Myself to Date - Irvin S. Cobb

Biography

Irvin S. Cobb (1876-1944)

Myself To Date

Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb was born on the 23rd of June, 1876 to parents Joshua Clark Cobb and Mary Saunders. He was born in the United States, in the town of Paducah, Kentucky. As he was growing up in Paducah, he would get his education from both private and public schools, with the inevitable goal of becoming a lawyer at Cade’s Academy. His plans fell through unfortunately when tragedy struck his family and he needed to find work to help support them any way he could. This began his career in media as he took his first job working as a reporter for the Paducah Evening News, he was sixteen by this point.

By the time Cobb was nineteen, he had shown a real talent for the work. Getting himself promoted to the position of Managing News Editor, making him the youngest person of that position in America. He bounced between Louisville and Paducah a couple of times, when he married Laura S. Baker and together (with $200.00 from his father in law) moved their new family out to New York so he could continue to grow in his field. It was not easy for him to find a job immediately, but after writing to some news outlets, expressing his frustration with the lack of opportunities, five of them responded, offering him a job.

Cobb chose to work for the news outlet the Evening Sun, his first major assignment being to cover the peace conference between Japan and the USSR. Though these assignments were typically seen as dull, Cobb was often credited for writing them to seem interesting. In the example of the conference, he did not write about what was happening, but instead he wrote about the people involved. His unique writing style helped him grow his notoriety in the journalism world until he eventually accepted a job offer from Joseph Pulitzer (of the Pulitzer Prize fame). With this job, Irvin Cobb had become the best paid journalist in America.

In addition to his journalistic endeavours, Cobb is probably best known for his work writing short stories. He is even compared to other famous American writers like Mark Twain and Edgar Allen Poe as a result of his success. Many of his short stories are best known for including his unique perspective on rural Kentucky life. Trying to draw away from the impoverished hillbilly narrative, and bringing much more substance and character to what it is like to grow up there. The best example of this is a character named Judge Priest, who was a fan favourite among the avid readers of his work.

It was the filming of his “Judge Priest” stories that allowed him to go out to California. Once there, he started working as a writer for different scenarios, but in addition, he also became an actor. His face was seen in several films, such as: The Face in the Dark (1918), Steamboat Around the Bend (1935), and Everybody’s Old Man (1936).

Irvin Cobb and his wife Laura Baker had one child, their daughter Elisabeth Cobb. Elisabeth followed similarly in her father’s footsteps, taking up the profession of writing. Her best credit is the 1934 novel She Was a Lady. Cobb would die on March 11, 1944, his body being buried in the Paducah cemetery, his gravestone being a large chunk of granite with the inscription “Home Again” from a book he wrote of the same name.

Sources:

“Irvin S. Cobb Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles.” n.d. HistoryForSale - Autographs, Collectibles & Memorabilia. Accessed February 12, 2025.

“Irvin S. Cobb.” n.d. In Encyclopedia Britannica.

“Elisabeth Cobb.” n.d. IMDb. Accessed February 12, 2025.

Geneanet.org. Accessed February 12, 2025.

“Biography.” n.d. IMDb. Accessed February 12, 2025.

N.d. Archive.org. Accessed February 12, 2025.

N.d. Familysearch.org. Accessed February 12, 2025.

Photo:

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. 2024. “Irvin S. Cobb.” In Encyclopedia Britannica.

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