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G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
 Gilbert Keith Chesterton was born in London, England on the 29th
of May, 1874. Though he considered himself a mere "rollicking journalist,"he was actually a prolific and gifted writer in virtually every area
of literature. A man of strong opinions and enormously talented
at defending them, his exuberant personality nevertheless allowed
him to maintain warm friendships with people--such as George Bernard
Shaw and H. G. Wells--with whom he vehemently disagreed.
Chesterton had no difficulty standing up for what he believed. He was one of the few journalists to oppose the Boer War.
His 1922 "Eugenics and Other Evils" attacked what was at that time
the most progressive of all ideas, the idea that the human race could and should breed a superior version of itself.
In the Nazi experience, history demonstrated the wisdom of his once "reactionary" views.
Though not written for a scholarly audience, his biographies of authors and historical figures like Charles Dickens and St. Francis
of Assisi often contain brilliant insights into their subjects. His Father Brown mystery stories, written between 1911 and 1936,
are still being read and adapted for television.
His politics fitted with his deep distrust of concentrated wealth
and power of any sort. Along with his friend Hilaire Belloc and in
books like the 1910 "What's Wrong with the World" he advocated a view
called "Distributionism" that was best summed up by his expression
that every man ought to be allowed to own "three acres and a cow."
Though not know as a political thinker, his political influence has circled the world. Some see in him the father of the "small
is beautiful" movement and a newspaper article by him is credited
with provoking Gandhi to seek a "genuine" nationalism for India rather than one that imitated the British.
Chesterton died on the 14th of June, 1936 in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. During his life he published 69 books
and at least another ten based on his writings have been published
after his death.
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