Dr. Alfred Ames: 1916 - 2007
Dr. Alfred Ames, a former Chicago Tribune writer whose glowing review launched James Herriot's book "All Creatures Great and Small" onto the best-sellers list, was a lifelong book lover who spent his retirement years volunteering at a church library.
"We have books from floor to ceiling in our house," said his wife, Violet, a librarian Dr. Ames met at his Florida retirement community. "He has given away so many; you wouldn't believe it."
Dr. Alfred Ames, a former Chicago Tribune writer whose glowing review launched James Herriot's book "All Creatures Great and Small" onto the best-sellers list, was a lifelong book lover who spent his retirement years volunteering at a church library.
"We have books from floor to ceiling in our house," said his wife, Violet, a librarian Dr. Ames met at his Florida retirement community. "He has given away so many; you wouldn't believe it."
Dr. Ames, 91, who wrote for the Tribune for 30 years, died Monday, Aug. 27, in Ft. Myers, Fla., of complications from abdominal surgery, his wife said.
About six weeks earlier, Dr. Ames donated his collection of letters from veterinarian James Alfred Wight, who wrote under the pen name James Herriot, to the museum in England that bears Herriot's name.
Wight always credited Dr. Ames' 1972 rave for "All Creatures Great and Small" in the Tribune with making his writing career a success. Wight noted his appreciation in a letter he sent Dr. Ames on Sept. 23, 1974.
"Another thing I shall never lose is the deep knowledge of my indebtedness to you and your professional skill because I am convinced that without Alfred Ames I would never have got off the ground," Wight wrote.
Dr. Ames was the first major reviewer in the U.S. to give notice to Herriot's book, Violet Ames said. "The New York Times kind of ignored it until St. Martin's Press ran a full-page ad of Alfred's [Tribune] review in the New York Times," she said.
Dr. Ames, who joined the Tribune staff in 1951, was a book reviewer for five years. He enjoyed doing it so much that he continued the task after becoming an editorial writer, a position he held for 25 years.
"He was always amazed the way he fit in there because he was not a dyed-in-the-wool Republican like most others," Violet Ames said. "He is much more liberal-minded."
A Quaker and pacifist who was a conscientious objector during World War II, Dr. Ames was a stark contrast to Col. Robert R. McCormick, the Tribune's longtime editor and publisher.
Dr. Ames did not often write about politics, however, said Jack Fuller, a former Tribune editor and publisher who worked with Dr. Ames on the editorial board. He generally focused on education, the environment and civil liberties.
"He had a very solid sort of moral sense about him, which reflected itself, not only in his writing, but in the passion in which he debated points on the editorial board," Fuller said.
About six weeks earlier, Dr. Ames donated his collection of letters from veterinarian James Alfred Wight, who wrote under the pen name James Herriot, to the museum in England that bears Herriot's name.
Wight always credited Dr. Ames' 1972 rave for "All Creatures Great and Small" in the Tribune with making his writing career a success. Wight noted his appreciation in a letter he sent Dr. Ames on Sept. 23, 1974.
"Another thing I shall never lose is the deep knowledge of my indebtedness to you and your professional skill because I am convinced that without Alfred Ames I would never have got off the ground," Wight wrote.
Dr. Ames was the first major reviewer in the U.S. to give notice to Herriot's book, Violet Ames said. "The New York Times kind of ignored it until St. Martin's Press ran a full-page ad of Alfred's [Tribune] review in the New York Times," she said.
Dr. Ames, who joined the Tribune staff in 1951, was a book reviewer for five years. He enjoyed doing it so much that he continued the task after becoming an editorial writer, a position he held for 25 years.
"He was always amazed the way he fit in there because he was not a dyed-in-the-wool Republican like most others," Violet Ames said. "He is much more liberal-minded."
A Quaker and pacifist who was a conscientious objector during World War II, Dr. Ames was a stark contrast to Col. Robert R. McCormick, the Tribune's longtime editor and publisher.
Dr. Ames did not often write about politics, however, said Jack Fuller, a former Tribune editor and publisher who worked with Dr. Ames on the editorial board. He generally focused on education, the environment and civil liberties.
"He had a very solid sort of moral sense about him, which reflected itself, not only in his writing, but in the passion in which he debated points on the editorial board," Fuller said.
While
working at the Tribune, Dr. Ames taught classes at Northwestern
University's Medill School of Journalism, where Fuller was one of his students.
"He was a very exacting, very good teacher," Fuller said. "He had a very clear sense of not only simple, elegant prose, but also the difference between gushing opinion and clarity of expression that might carry a point with it."
From 1936 to 1944, Dr. Ames was on the faculty of the University of Illinois, where he had received his master's degree and doctorate. He taught at the Illinois Institute of Technology from 1944 to 1951.
After retiring from the Tribune in the early 1980s, Dr. Ames moved to North Carolina and then Ft. Myers. He continued to send his former colleagues letters when he saw articles they wrote that interested him.
Steve Chapman, a Tribune editorial writer and columnist, received a letter in June that Dr. Ames had written on a typewriter.
"I am glad that you are having a long tenure there, which I know from experience can be rewarding and happy," Dr. Ames wrote.
Dr. Ames' first wife, Nell Ames, died in 1992.
Other than Violet, Dr. Ames leaves no immediate survivors.
A memorial service will be held at 10:15 a.m. Saturday at the chapel of the Village Church at Shell Point Retirement Community in Ft. Myers.
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kkridel@tribune.com
"He was a very exacting, very good teacher," Fuller said. "He had a very clear sense of not only simple, elegant prose, but also the difference between gushing opinion and clarity of expression that might carry a point with it."
From 1936 to 1944, Dr. Ames was on the faculty of the University of Illinois, where he had received his master's degree and doctorate. He taught at the Illinois Institute of Technology from 1944 to 1951.
After retiring from the Tribune in the early 1980s, Dr. Ames moved to North Carolina and then Ft. Myers. He continued to send his former colleagues letters when he saw articles they wrote that interested him.
Steve Chapman, a Tribune editorial writer and columnist, received a letter in June that Dr. Ames had written on a typewriter.
"I am glad that you are having a long tenure there, which I know from experience can be rewarding and happy," Dr. Ames wrote.
Dr. Ames' first wife, Nell Ames, died in 1992.
Other than Violet, Dr. Ames leaves no immediate survivors.
A memorial service will be held at 10:15 a.m. Saturday at the chapel of the Village Church at Shell Point Retirement Community in Ft. Myers.
----------
kkridel@tribune.com
