An able, disinterested, public-spirited press, with trained intelligence to know the right and courage to do it, can preserve that public virtue without which popular government is a sham and a mockery.

-Joseph Pulitzer

Whilst May 5th, Freedom of the Press Day, is still a few weeks away, this week in April is notable for a formidable individual whom strove throughout his life to keep that freedom strong, well-trained and powering forward like a Wild West steam engine thrusting across our vast nation.

Publisher Joseph Pulitzer was born April 10, 1847 in Budapest, Hungary. Emigrating to America toward the end of the Civil War, he fought with Union forces for a short period; yet, thankfully for us, battlefield horrors soon took a backseat to what would become a lifetime of inky fingers.

Savannah of Williamsburg: The Trials of Blackbeard and His Pirates, Virginia 1718 made front page news in the Lifestyle section of the Virginia Gazette. One of the oldest newspapers in the country, having first printed its weekly editions in 1736, the Gazette and its founder William Parks are actually the focus of Devore's follow-up title, Savannah of Williamsburg: Ben Franklin, Freedom & Freedom of the Press, Virginia, 1735.