Robert Cromie Builds a Chicago Media Career on Love of People
Building on his love of people, Robert Cromie wrote for the Chicago Tribune and created two television shows and a radio show about books and authors.
Robert Cromie covered World War II for The Chicago Tribune, reporting the action of the Pacific Theater and marching through Europe with General George Patton’s Army. Returning from World War II service, Cromie became a sportswriter before he switched to reporting and writing about books. He became famous for his Chicago Tribune columns about books and interviews with fellow writers and graduated to television and radio programs. WGN television broadcast "Cromie’s Circle" from 1969 to 1980 and WTTW television broadcast "Cromie’s Book Beat" nationwide from 1964 to 1980. As a reporter, he was enchanted with people and their life stories and he despised injustices and revealed them through vivid newspaper stories.
Cromie often entered a battlefield by asking whether there were any soldiers from Chicago or Illinois, present, and he often helped carry wounded soldiers to safety. In 1944, flak overcame the B-26 bomber Cromie rode in and it crash landed in England. Without hesitating, he stepped aboard another bomber headed for another raid. Like Ernie Pyle, Cromie interviewed individual soldiers and wrote their stories for the people back home.
On September 2, 1945, the press scrambled for places on the Battleship Missouri for the signing of the document ending the war. General MacArthur presided, wearing the gold-braided cap he had worn at Corregidor. General Wainwright who had surrendered and remained a Japanese prisoner was there, emaciated but happy. Robert Cromie covered the Japanese surrender.
Robert Cromie, Chicago Tribune War Correspondent and Sports Reporter
According to his son Richard Cromie, Robert Cromie rarely talked about his war experiences, because he enjoyed his present adventures more than his past experiences. "He wasn’t seeking excitement, just the story and the story he often told was that of the average man, the everyday heroes."
Early in his life Robert Cromie decided that he wanted to be a writer. Born February 28, 1909, in Detroit, Michigan, he grew up in Detroit and Birmingham, Michigan. He graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio where he majored in Spanish and History. In 1936, he joined the staff of the Chicago Tribune and six years later became the Tribune war correspondent. From 1942 to 1946, he worked as a Chicago Tribune war correspondent.
When Cromie returned to the United Sates, he began a sports writing stint for the Tribune, covering sports ranging from boxing, basketball, curling and golf. Cromie was also an avid Chicago White Sox fan and was always on the lookout for ways to help his team. In 1978, while he was Chicago Tribune book critic, Bob Cromie discovered Robert Britt Burns, a former Major League Baseball pitcher from 1978-1985. Burns had pitched for Huffman High School in Birmingham, Alabama, from 1975 to 1977 and when he graduated he held the state record for career victories, 35 wins and two losses. Cromie’s influence helped bring Burns to Chicago to pitch for the Chicago White Sox.
Cromie also loved golf and continually threatened to retire from his broadcasting and writing so he could devote more time to his game. No matter how much he threatened to give up everything for golf, he always showed up on time for his book interviews and managed to write several of his own books.
Robert Cromie Writes a Liberal Column For The Conservative Chicago Tribune
In 1969, Robert Cromie began writing a column for the Chicago Tribune that made him the first staff writer to write from a liberal perspective for a newspaper renowned for its conservative leanings. He earned the respect for his colleagues for his liberal leanings and they agreed that Robert Cromie always cheered for the underdog.
His colleagues described Cromie as affable and disheveled, but dedicated, sensitive, and always focused on people and their stories. He enjoyed meeting and interviewing people more than sitting behind his desk. "Interviewing people was the best thing he did," Polly Goodwin, a children’s book editor who worked with Cromie at the Tribune said. "He was so good with people. He would talk to them and get something out of them. He wasn’t an office person." His journalistic style was vigorous but always sensitive.
His colleagues described
Building on his love of people, Robert Cromie wrote for the Chicago Tribune and created two television shows and a radio show about books and authors.
Robert Cromie covered World War II for The Chicago Tribune, reporting the action of the Pacific Theater and marching through Europe with General George Patton’s Army. Returning from World War II service, Cromie became a sportswriter before he switched to reporting and writing about books. He became famous for his Chicago Tribune columns about books and interviews with fellow writers and graduated to television and radio programs. WGN television broadcast "Cromie’s Circle" from 1969 to 1980 and WTTW television broadcast "Cromie’s Book Beat" nationwide from 1964 to 1980. As a reporter, he was enchanted with people and their life stories and he despised injustices and revealed them through vivid newspaper stories.
Cromie often entered a battlefield by asking whether there were any soldiers from Chicago or Illinois, present, and he often helped carry wounded soldiers to safety. In 1944, flak overcame the B-26 bomber Cromie rode in and it crash landed in England. Without hesitating, he stepped aboard another bomber headed for another raid. Like Ernie Pyle, Cromie interviewed individual soldiers and wrote their stories for the people back home.
On September 2, 1945, the press scrambled for places on the Battleship Missouri for the signing of the document ending the war. General MacArthur presided, wearing the gold-braided cap he had worn at Corregidor. General Wainwright who had surrendered and remained a Japanese prisoner was there, emaciated but happy. Robert Cromie covered the Japanese surrender.
Robert Cromie, Chicago Tribune War Correspondent and Sports Reporter
According to his son Richard Cromie, Robert Cromie rarely talked about his war experiences, because he enjoyed his present adventures more than his past experiences. "He wasn’t seeking excitement, just the story and the story he often told was that of the average man, the everyday heroes."
Early in his life Robert Cromie decided that he wanted to be a writer. Born February 28, 1909, in Detroit, Michigan, he grew up in Detroit and Birmingham, Michigan. He graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio where he majored in Spanish and History. In 1936, he joined the staff of the Chicago Tribune and six years later became the Tribune war correspondent. From 1942 to 1946, he worked as a Chicago Tribune war correspondent.
When Cromie returned to the United Sates, he began a sports writing stint for the Tribune, covering sports ranging from boxing, basketball, curling and golf. Cromie was also an avid Chicago White Sox fan and was always on the lookout for ways to help his team. In 1978, while he was Chicago Tribune book critic, Bob Cromie discovered Robert Britt Burns, a former Major League Baseball pitcher from 1978-1985. Burns had pitched for Huffman High School in Birmingham, Alabama, from 1975 to 1977 and when he graduated he held the state record for career victories, 35 wins and two losses. Cromie’s influence helped bring Burns to Chicago to pitch for the Chicago White Sox.
Cromie also loved golf and continually threatened to retire from his broadcasting and writing so he could devote more time to his game. No matter how much he threatened to give up everything for golf, he always showed up on time for his book interviews and managed to write several of his own books.
Robert Cromie Writes a Liberal Column For The Conservative Chicago Tribune
In 1969, Robert Cromie began writing a column for the Chicago Tribune that made him the first staff writer to write from a liberal perspective for a newspaper renowned for its conservative leanings. He earned the respect for his colleagues for his liberal leanings and they agreed that Robert Cromie always cheered for the underdog.
His colleagues described Cromie as affable and disheveled, but dedicated, sensitive, and always focused on people and their stories. He enjoyed meeting and interviewing people more than sitting behind his desk. "Interviewing people was the best thing he did," Polly Goodwin, a children’s book editor who worked with Cromie at the Tribune said. "He was so good with people. He would talk to them and get something out of them. He wasn’t an office person." His journalistic style was vigorous but always sensitive.
His colleagues described