Thomas, Lowell

ACHIEVEMENTS:

Introduced Lawrence of Arabia to the public

NICKNAME/ALIAS:

None

DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH:

6 April 1892, Woodington, OH

DATE AND PLACE OF DEATH AND AGE AT DEATH:

29 August 1981, Pawling, NY Aged 89

DISCIPLINE:

Writer, broadcaster

FIELD:

Litrerature, broadcasting

LANGUAGE:

English

PARENTS:

Father: Harry Thomas

Mother: Harriet Wagner

SIBLINGS:

SPOUSE:

1 Frances Ryan

2 Marianna Munn

CHILDREN:

1 son: Lowell Thomas jnr

EDUCATION:

Local schools

Valparaiso University

MAJOR WORK:

“With Lawrence in Arabia” (1924)

“Beyond the Khyber Pass” (1925)

LIFE AND TIMES:

Thomas began writing for the “Rocky Mountain News” and the Denver Times” and according to his own account received further degrees from Denver University. He gave lessons in the art of public speaking to finance a short period of study at the Chicago-Kent College of law and he completed a master’s degree at Princeton.

During his studies, Thomas struck a deal with two railroad companies who allowed him to travel on the railroads through the West to Alaska as payment for articles promoting rail travel.

His initiative resulted in a commission to go to Europe to make propaganda films in support of American entry into World War I in 1917. He was backed by the US government, funded by twenty Chicago financiers and accompanied by a camera man. He then worked as Director of Information for the British government, which secured him a permit to travel to the headquarters of the British forces in the Middle East.

The British were fighting against the Turks, who had allied themselves with the Germans, and Thomas had already heard about the covert operations of the British officer T E Lawrence* who liaising with the Arab. He traveled to Palestine via Egypt, the Upper Nile, Sudan and the Red Sea and in Jerusalem met Lawrence who was dressed as a Sharif.

Thomas knew at once that the exploits of the charismatic and mysterious Laurence would make a terrific story. He shot film of Lawrence in Arab dress surrounded by his Arab friends and riding his camel across the dunes, and traveled with him.

Thomas has been accused since of exploiting Lawrence, a charge he denied with the much-quoted remark that Lawrence had a talent for “backing into the limelight." Thomas remained for only ten days in Arabia but his link to Lawrence made him famous. He gave a series of lectures on him in 1919 and his first articles appeared in January 1920 in the “Strand Magazine” in London.

He made Lawrence famous and he became famous himself. The two books he wrote about Lawrence - “With Lawrence in Arabia” (1924) and “Beyond the Khyber Pass” (1925) - also made Thomas extremely rich.

Back in America, he became one of the first popular radio personalities after he was commissioned by a CBS staffer who had heard him lecture. From 1930-67 Thomas hosted the daily “Literary Digest “ radio program, a round-up of the day’s news. He always greeted his audience with the words “Good Evening, Everybody” and signed off with “So long, until tomorrow”. He avoided heavy-duty politics and crime, and concentrated on entertaining his listeners.

He retained his interest in movies and from 1935 he was one of the editors and narrators of 20th Century-Fox’s Movietones. In 1937 he made a radio broadcast from London on the coronation of George VI, and in the final stages of World War II he broadcast from a P-51 fighter plane over Berlin. His financial independence enabled Thomas to travel and he went round the world numerous times and wrote almost sixty books about his experiences. He met the Dalai Lama, and on a visit to Tibet in 1949 his life was saved by his son after he fell off a horse at the edge of a precipice.

In 1952 Thomas joined with the movie executives, Louis B Mayer and Michael Todd, to produce the first Cinerama film, a travelogue in which Thomas appeared. He was acquainted with political leaders around the world and in 1977 was awarded the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in America.

ASSESSMENT: Thomas was the man who made T E Lawrence famous.

EXTRA CONNECTIONS: None

ONELINER: Lowell Thomas, famous US broadcaster

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Stewart, Desmond, T E Lawrence, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1977