author
Murray Sheehan
1887–1963
A journalist, teacher, and novelist, he moved easily between practical writing guides and imaginative fiction. His best-known books include the satirical novel Half-Gods and Eden, a retelling of the Genesis story.
1 Audiobook
Hints on news reporting
by Murray Sheehan
About the author
Born in Hamilton, Ohio, in 1887, he studied at Miami University and later at the Sorbonne in Paris. Early in his career he worked in journalism and joined the University of Arkansas, where he became its first journalism instructor and first publicity director.
His writing ranged widely. Alongside journalism manuals such as Hints on News Reporting, he published the novels Half-Gods in 1927 and Eden in 1928. Half-Gods was noted for its sharp satire of Fayetteville and university life, while Eden reimagined a familiar biblical story in literary form.
He died in 1963. Today he is remembered as a versatile early twentieth-century writer whose work connects newsroom craft, campus life, and ambitious fiction.