John "Jack" Silas Reed (October 22, 1887 – October 19, 1920) was an American journalist, poet, and communist activist, famous for his first-hand account of the Bolshevik Revolution, Ten Days that Shook the World. He was the husband of the writer and feminist Louise Bryant.Reed and Bryant were the subjects of the film Reds (1981), directed by Warren Beatty.
Reed was born in Portland, Oregon, the son of Charles Jerome and Margaret (Green) Reed. His mother was the daughter of a leading Portland citizen who had made a fortune in pig iron manufacturing. His father, who had recently come from the East when they married in 1886, represented an agricultural machinery manufacturer and with his ready wit quickly won acceptance in Portland’s business community.[1]The young John, universally called Jack, was born in his mother’s mansion and baptized in the fashionable Trinity Episcopal Church (later abandoning religion). He had a brother, Harry, two years his junior.[3] A sickly child, he was sent to the recently-established Portland Academy, a private boarding school where he was unhappy, at the age of nine. In September 1904, he was sent to Morristown School, New Jersey, to prepare for college (his father had not gone to college and wanted his sons to attend Harvard). There, he made the football team and although he did poorly in most subjects, showed literary promise. Around this time his father’s social standing fell due to his muckraking activities in exposing the timber industry’s corruption.[5]Reed entered Harvard College in September 1906 .[6] Tall, handsome, and light-hearted, he threw himself into all manner of student activities. He was a member of the swimming team and the dramatic club; he served on the editorial boards of the Lampoon and the Harvard Monthly; he served as president of the Harvard Glee Club; he wrote a play produced by the Hasty Pudding Club, and was made ivy orator and poet. He attended meetings of the Socialist Club, with his friend Walter Lippmann founded in May 1908, – his social conscience was still dormant and there were too many contradictions involved.[7] participated in sports like swimming and water polo, at which he excelled.[8] He was frustrated by the dismissive attitude the Eastern aristocracy showed the energetic young man, passing him over for membership in the waiting clubs Still, his mentor, literature professor Charles Copeland, helped develop his talents.[10] Graduating in 1910, he visited England, France, and Spain before moving to New York City in March 1911.
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