#ben montgomery

[ifreakingloveroyals]

Through the Years → Catherine, Princess of Wales (1,052/∞) 5 April 2026 | Catherine, Princess of Wales attends the 2026 Easter Matins Service at St George's Chapel in Windsor, England. (Photo by Ben Montgomery/Getty Images)

[pookiestheoneliveson]

Ben Montgomery

[saywhat-politics]

Axios Reporter Fired After ‘Propaganda’ Reply to Ron DeSantis Press Release

The Florida governor had been set to host an event about diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education

An Axios reporter was let go after responding to an email about an event hosted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with the message, “this is propaganda, not a press release.”

Ben Montgomery, who has not commented publicly on the fallout, was fired Monday.

Axios confirmed to Vanity Fair that Montgomery is no longer with the company but did not elaborate. The news website is based in Arlington, Virginia. It was launched in 2017 by former Politico journalists Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen and Roy Schwartz.

[bigtickhk]

Review | He escaped a lynch mob, then sued its members in court

Ben Montgomery on a Black man’s quest for justice in Jim Crow Kentucky.

A Shot in the Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the Jim Crow South by Ben Montgomery https://amzn.to/3qPJdRi 

https://bookshop.org/a/17891/9780316535540

[jonfarreporter]

The optimism of one Texas man against The Great Depression sheds light upon a more complex simpler time

I stumbled across a book by journalist Ben Montgomery entitled “The Man Who Walked Backward.” As soon as I saw the book title and its reference to The Great Depression, it brought to mind recollections my parents and grandparents had of that era. 

In these uncertain and as one of my college professors describe it, “interesting times,” I often seek to find how previous generations and time-frames dealt with adversity and hardships. 

No doubt, the main character in Montgomery’s biography, Plennie Wingo of Albeline, Texas is an unusual person if not an extraordinary one. His adventure to travel around the world walking backward was not entirely unheard of. Many people have done “around the world” type trips of one sort or another. 

Yet, Wingo’s effort displayed the spirit of optimism amid hardship. As I picked up the book from the display at our local library, I immediately thought of movies set in the Depression Era like, “They Shoot Horses Don’t They,” starring Jane Fonda and the vintage comedy/drama “Paper Moon, starring a then-precocious Tatum O’Neil, alongside her famous father Ryan. Both movies were smashes at the box office and “Paper Moon” made Tatum a star almost overnight. 

Yet one reason why I mention these is because during The Great Depression many people like Wingo were doing anything they could to manage the economic and emotional devastation that occurred to thousands of families all across the nation. 

Both my parents as well as grandparents would note, “they were hard times but they were simpler times.” No doubt movies were one of the major places where everyone could go to give their spirits a lift and it was at this time when the “Golden Age of Hollywood” made its mark upon the world. 

But as Montgomery’s extensive book points out, no amount of optimism could completely hide the shadowy dark side of humanity that was hidden behind the everyday propriety that was America in the 1920s and ‘30s.

Wingo was an exception, in that he had made a pledge to himself to accept people in his travels of backgrounds, nationalities, religions and so forth. But the prejudices and bigotry of the day, was very strong in places he walked through in the South and MidWest. 

Montgomery provides an unflinching backstory of the histories of places Wingo visited and the encounters he had. Truly the 1920s and ‘30s were at times “far from a heaven on earth,” one might say. 

Still, I was curious what was it that attracted Montgomery to a fellow like Wingo, even if his stunt had been attempted before? 

“I liked the novelty of his stunt set against a very dark time in history, he said. There's some combination of his ‘Forest Gump-esque’ naivete and the terrible events surrounding him that I found very appealing.” 

An accomplished history/biography author, Montgomery’s work has earned him distinguished recognition, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2010. 

“We tend to ignore or overlook the dark past, he told this reporter. And, maybe I like the idea that we shouldn't.”

As an award-winning journalist, staff writer at the Tampa Bay Times, Montgomery is no stranger to the complex and difficult story. He noted, “the historian and scholar Richard Hofstadter wrote, ‘What is most exceptional about the Americans is not the voluminous record of their violence, but their extraordinary ability, in the face of that record, to persuade themselves that they are among the best-behaved and best-regulated of peoples.’”

He recognized Plennie Wingo as someone who remained composed even when his life was threatened. “If we ignore, or forget, said Montgomery, we're destined to repeat, I think.”

Some reviews thought the book a bit long-winded. But I think it had to be so in order to understand the complexities. A fascinating read, “The Man Who Walked Backwards Around The World” is a testimony to a pivotal era in American History - The Great Depression. While much of the optimism and determination of Wingo is enjoyable, the harsh realities he encounters are rather blunt. Montgomery provides an honest yet balanced account, providing important details and backstory. Faint-hearted readers be prepared. 

To learn more about Ben Montgomery and all is works see his page on Facebook.

[thedailyhawthornegossip]

spotted together: benjamin montgomery, alister belrose & russell montgomery

@benmxntgomery, @atonedalister & @russellmxntgomery

[librarienne]

Currently reading: Grandma Gatewood’s Walk by Ben Montgomery