Tom Loyless

Tom W. Loyless (abt.1871 - March 19, 1926) is now best known as the managing owner of the Warm Springs spa resort (for which his financial backer was George Foster Peabody). Prior to managing the resort Loyless, a native of west Georgia, served as a newspaper reporter, editor and publisher at papers in Augusta, Columbus and Macon.

As a young editor Loyless earned a reputation for bluntness and a fiery temper that did not always limit itself to print. An 1897 dispute with H.C. Hanson, editor of the rival "Macon Morning Telegraph" (later merged with Macon Evening News to form the Macon Telegraph) in which Loyless accused Hanson of bias in reporting became so heated that upon meeting in person Loyless struck Hanson, who in turn drew a handgun.

By 1915 Loyless was editor of the Augusta Chronicle. He was one of the few newspaper editors in Georgia to proclaim the innocence of Leo Frank and denounced his prosecutors as corrupt. This decision cost him much in popularity and made him an enemy of the Ku Klux Klan, though he continued to edit the paper until (according to the Census) at least 1920. Soon after this date he became the manager of the Warm Springs resort and

Loyless proved an ambitious manager to the much in disrepair property. After a young man suffering from polio discovered that the springs helped him, Loyless attracted the attention of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who also suffered from polio, and brought him to Warm Springs. Roosevelt decided that Warm Springs could help polio victims, and he worked with Loyless on improvements to Warm Springs,

Loyless remained at Warm Springs until his health failed in 1925. An obituary (featuring the subheading "Georgia Editor Was an Unceasing Enemy of the Klan") appeared on page 19 of the March 22, 1926 issue of the New York Times.

His role is portrayed in the 2005 movie "Warm Springs", where he was played by Tim Blake Nelson. The movie gives the impression that he was no longer active in newspapers at the time of Roosevelt's visits, but in fact he was still involved, and convinced Roosevelt to help him out as guest editor of the Columbus Ledger (of which Loyless owned a percentage). Roosevelt also contributed nine guest editorials for Loyless's former paper, The Macon Telegraph, which were syndicated nationally. [http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/FDRedito.htm]

Actually, Roosevelt probably did not have polio. Using Bayesian analysis, a study published in 2003 found that six of eight posterior probabilities favored a diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome (an autoimmune peripheral neuropathy) over poliomyelitis. [Goldman, AS "et al", [http://www.rsmpress.co.uk/jmb_2003_v11_p232-240.pdf "What was the cause of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's paralytic illness?"] . J Med Biogr. 11: 232-240 (2003)]

References

External links

* [http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/FDRvisit.htm Franklin D. Roosevelt's Visits to Georgia]
* [http://newdeal.feri.org/speeches/1934g.htm Extemporaneous Remarks at Thanksgiving Day Party at Warm Springs, Georgia]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9903E5DA123CE433A25754C0A9679D94669ED7CF&oref=slogin Warring Editors in Georgia]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=940CE5DB133FE233A25750C1A96F9C946496D6CF Loyless editorial on the Leo Frank prosecutoion]