A Whiteland native whose views were read around the world for half a century died last month at the age of 92.
George Melloan, known as “Jack” by friends and family, grew up in Depression-era Whiteland. From humble roots planted on a rural Johnson County farm, he grew branches that eventually took him to one of the most respected newspapers in the world, The Wall Street Journal.
Melloan’s upbringing during a time of economic hardship shaped the views he shared with the world at the paper, and influenced him to write a novel about the New Deal’s impact in a slice of life history of Whiteland and memoir titled, ‘When the New Deal came to town.’
Dream comes true
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Melloan was born in 1927 and lived on the farm until 1933, when his family moved into town after the cattle market tanked, according to family history shared by Melloan’s son, Jim.
After graduating from Whiteland Community High School, Melloan studied journalism at Butler University and worked at two Indiana newspapers before starting his career at The Wall Street Journal’s Chicago bureau in 1952.
During his early work at the Logansport Pharos-Tribune and Muncie Evening Press, he met and worked with his future wife Joann “Jody” Melloan, who grew up in Franklin. The two never met growing up in Johnson County, but they speculated they likely crossed paths at high school basketball games, Jim said.
For 54 years, he served The Wall Street Journal readers as a reporter, foreign correspondent and editor at newsrooms in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Atlanta, New York, London, and as the international bureau chief in Brussels.
As a foreign correspondent, his byline appeared atop some of the biggest international stories of the mid- and late-1960s. He covered the Soviet Union, the Six-Day War, the Biafra War and the Libyan coup that installed Muammar Gaddafi. Melloan told a newspaper in his adopted hometown, Westfield, New Jersey, that he dreamt of being a foreign correspondent growing up.
In 1970, he joined the paper’s office in New York and soon became a deputy editor. He served overseas again for four years beginning in 1990, heading up the paper’s international edition. He was an editorial page editor until he retired in 2006.
In his retirement, Melloan never put down his pen, so to speak. He wrote several books and continued to write columns for The Wall Street Journal and other publications. His last column, on the importance of immigrants, published most recently Oct. 10 in the Dallas Morning News. His final book, “Bogus Science: How Scare Politics Robs Voters, Corrupts Research, and Poisons Minds,” is expected to publish early next year.
‘Uncle Jack’ gives back
Through the years, Melloan always stayed in touch with family and friends in Johnson County. His time back home grounded him in the years he worked in Europe, Jim Melloan said. George and Joann Melloan always had a soft spot for their hometowns, visited family annually and made sure Jim and his sisters, Maryanne and Molly, knew their roots, Jim Melloan said.
Though he only showed his buttoned-up, conservative side to the public, Melloan got along with everyone and loved to ask questions, always in search of new perspectives, Jim Melloan said.
“He mixed it up with people. He wasn’t shy about being a reporter and asking all kinds of people questions,” he said.
As a father, he challenged his children to do their best and made sure they were on good paths, Jim Melloan said. Though the kids’ ideas for their futures didn’t always match up with their father’s, they remained close, he said.
Melloan’s niece Samia (Battin) Cote, of Franklin, remembers him as one of the smartest and most generous people she has ever known.
She remembers, as a child, adults talking politics around the table at family reunions, and Melloan’s infectious laughter as others got heated during the discussion, Cote said. As she got older, she was in awe at how wise and well-read he was on seemingly every topic, she said.
Despite his busy work schedule, Melloan never failed to make time for family, even while working abroad, and helped them out any way he could, Cote said. Melloan’s generosity was at its peak when he helped pay for her daughter’s college tuition when Cote and her husband were strapped for cash, she said.
“He was a downhome guy. It wasn’t until all these obituaries came out that I realized how important he was,” Cote said. “People who knew him called him ‘brilliant,’ ‘strong’ and ‘compassionate.’ But to me, he was just Uncle Jack, my loving uncle who was always dependable and kind, and whom I loved a great deal.”
