Clyde Brion Davis

Who was Clyde Brion Davis?

Clyde Brion Davis was an American author and freelance journalist active from the mid-1920s until his death. Davis is best known for his novels The Anointed and The Great American Novel, though he authored more than 15 books.

Clyde Brion Davis was born on May 22, 1894, in Unadilla, Nebraska, to Charles Nelson and Isabel Brion Davis. His father was a friend and strong supporter of the legendary Nebraska politician William Jennings Bryan. A year after the boy's birth, the Davis family moved to Missouri, where Davis attended schools in Chillicothe and Kansas City. At 14, Davis quit school and was employed in several jobs including printer’s apprentice, steamfitter’s helper, chimney sweep, electrician, detective and journalist.

In 1916, Davis gained his first experience in journalism, working with the Denver Times and Albuquerque Morning Journal. Davis acquired further experience in journalism writing for the Army newspaper The Pontanezan Duckboard while serving in the United States Army Intelligence Corps during World War I. Upon his return to the United States, Davis, with the exception of a few months working for the Burns Detective Agency, spent the years between 1919 and 1937 working for various newspapers, including: Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, San Francisco Examiner, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and Buffalo Times.