Francis Wallace

Francis Wallace (February 12, 1894 – August 19, 1977) was an American sportswriter, fiction writer, screenwriter, and commentator for both radio and television broadcasts. His papers are housed in the Francis Wallace Collection, University of Notre Dame Archives.

Personal life

Francis Wallace was born in Bellaire, Ohio on February12, 1894, to John Simon Wallace (1848–1917) and Mary Griffin Wallace (1856–1932) who emigrated from Ireland to the United States in the 1870s. Wallace attended St. John Central Grade School and St. John Central High School, both in Bellaire. After graduation, Wallace reportedly worked in area railroad shops, glass factories, and steel mills for approximately seven years. While at Notre Dame, Wallace studied philosophy. Perhaps the greatest influence in Wallace's education, however, came while serving as a press intern for Knute Rockne. Wallace thus traveled with the team and worked with the legendary coach to package stories for the press. He graduated from Notre Dame in 1923. He lost but claims to have received the "intelligent vote".

Wallace died in Cocoa Beach, Florida on August19, 1977.

Professional life

After graduating from Notre Dame, Francis Wallace accepted a position as a night city editor for the Associated Press. He then served as a sportswriter for the New York Post and the New York Daily News. During that time, he authored the story detailing Knute Rockne's "Win One for the Gipper" speech and popularized the Fighting Irish among the press in the Northeast as the mascot for the University of Notre Dame. He was also one of the earliest voices for the reform of college football.

In 1927, he began writing fiction and non-fiction stories for a number of magazines. His first of seventeen books, Huddle!, was published in 1930 by Farrar & Rinehart. Several of those stories and books became the basis for motion picture screen plays.

In 1937, Wallace launched what would become an industry with the release of an annual college football preview. Between 1937 and 1948, Wallace's predictions ran in The Saturday Evening Post under the title Pigskin Preview. From 1949 to 1956, Wallace's predictions ran in Collier's under the title Annual Football Preview. By that time, the industry Wallace inspired was in full-swing as many other football predictions were on the market.

Wallace's prominence as a sportswriter led him to serve as a commentator for the CBS TV network and the ABC radio network. Toward the end of his career, however, he labored in a number of ways on behalf of his beloved alma mater. For example, he was elected as president of Notre Dame's alumni association in 1949. His last three books were all non-fiction works that focused on various aspects of the university's history and culture. He served on the Library Council and served as the inaugural chair of the Sports and Games Collection (now known as the Joyce Sports Research Collection). Mary Wallace also served on the Women's Advisory Council for the university.

Work

Books

Books by Wallace: Huddle! (Farrar & Rinehart, 1930) O’Reilly of Notre Dame (Farrar & Rinehart, 1931) Stadium (Farrar & Rinehart, 1931) That’s My Boy (Farrar & Rinehart, 1932) Big Game (Little, Brown and Company, 1936) Kid Galahad (Grosset & Dunlap, 1936) Autumn Madness (Books, Inc., 1937) Razzle-dazzle (Grosset & Dunlap, 1938) Little Hercules (M. S. Mill Co., Inc., 1939) Explosion (William Morrow and Company, 1943) The Notre Dame Story (Rinehart & Company, 1949) Big League Rookie (Westminster Press, 1948) Dimentia Pigskin (Rinehart & Company, 1951) Front Man (Rinehart & Company, 1952) Knute Rockne (Doubleday, 1960) Notre Dame: From Rockne to Parseghian (David McKay Publications, 1965) Notre Dame: Its People and Its Legends (David McKay Publications, 1969)

Movies

Touchdown (Paramount Pictures, 1931) Huddle (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1932) That’s My Boy (Columbia Pictures, 1932) The Big Game (RKO Pictures, 1936) Rose Bowl, (Paramount Pictures, 1936) Kid Galahad (Warner Bros., 1937) The Wagons Roll at Night (Warner Bros., 1941) Kid Galahad (Mirisch Company, 1962)

Pigskin Preview Issues

Saturday Evening Post, 9/25/1937 Saturday Evening Post, 9/24/1938 Saturday Evening Post, 9/25/1939 Saturday Evening Post, 9/21/1940 Saturday Evening Post, 9/20/1941 Saturday Evening Post, 9/19/1942 No Issue in 1943, 1944, 1945 Due to World War II Saturday Evening Post, 9/21/1946 Saturday Evening Post, 9/13/1947 Saturday Evening Post, 9/18/1948

Annual Football Preview Issues

Collier's, 9/24/1949 Collier's, 9/16/1950 Collier's, 9/15/1951 Collier's, 8/30/1952 Collier's, 9/18/1953 Collier's, 9/17/1954 Collier's, 9/16/1955 Collier's, 9/14/1956

Pigskin Preview Issue

Playboy, September 1957