Vincent Sheean

James Vincent Sheean (1899–1975) was an American journalist, novelist, and biographer renowned for his foreign correspondence and pioneering book journalism. Born in Pana, Illinois, to Irish American parents, he reported on major events including the Fascist March on Rome, the Rif War in Morocco, the Pacific War, and Gandhi's assassination, with his seminal work Personal History (1935) blending autobiography and political commentary. Sheean lived his later years in Italy with his wife, the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, and authored notable biographies before dying of lung cancer.