author
Paul Hume
1915–2001
A sharp, influential voice in American classical music criticism, this longtime Washington Post editor helped shape how generations of readers listened to opera, concerts, and singers. He is also remembered for the famously fearless review that drew an angry response from President Harry Truman.
1 Audiobook
The Lion of Poland: The Story of Paderewski
by Ruth Fox Hume, Paul Hume
About the author
Born in Chicago in 1915, Paul Chandler Hume became an American music critic and author known for his deep knowledge of classical music. He studied at the University of Chicago and also trained privately in piano, organ, and voice, building a broad musical background that informed both his criticism and his work as a performer and church musician.
Hume joined The Washington Post in 1946 and served as its music editor for decades, remaining one of the paper's leading classical critics until 1982. Alongside journalism, he taught at Georgetown University and was active in Washington's musical life as a choral director and advocate for serious music.
He is often remembered for a 1950 review of Margaret Truman's singing recital, which prompted a notorious angry letter from President Harry Truman. That episode brought him national attention, but his larger legacy is the long, steady body of criticism and writing through which he introduced readers to performers, repertory, and the culture of classical music in the United States.