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→Background
Shannon was born in El Dorado in Union County in southern [[Arkansas]]. His father, Henry Heywood Shannon, Sr. (1882-1928), died when George was fourteen and is interred at Greenwood Cemetery in Hot Springs, Arkansas. His mother, the former Carrie Lee Olson (1886-1963), died thirty-five years after her husband's passing and two days before the 1963 [[assassination]] of [[John F. Kennedy]]. She is interred in El Dorado at Bethel Methodist Cemetery.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Shannon&GSfn=Carrie&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=4&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=29554063&df=all&|title=Carrie Lee Olson Shannon|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=October 9, 2019}}</ref>
Shannon was born in El Dorado in Union County in southern [[Arkansas]]. His father, Henry Heywood Shannon, Sr. (1882-1928), died when George was fourteen and is interred at Greenwood Cemetery in Hot Springs, Arkansas. His mother, the former Carrie Lee Olson (1886-1963), died thirty-five years after her husband's passing and two days before the 1963 [[assassination]] of [[John F. Kennedy]]. She is interred in El Dorado at Bethel Methodist Cemetery.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Shannon&GSfn=Carrie&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=4&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=29554063&df=all&|title=Carrie Lee Olson Shannon|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=October 9, 2019}}</ref>
Shannon had four siblings, Inez S. Cobb (1907-1993) of Refugio in southeastern [[Texas]], Louise Shannon Thorne Vaughn (1909-2000)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Vaughn&GSfn=Louise&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=4&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=35662333&df=all&|title=Louise Shannon Thorne Vaughn|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=October 9, 2019}}</ref> of North Little Rock, Henry H. Shannon, Jr., of El Dorado, and Eula Pearl Shannon Gilcrease (1917-2013), who was born in El Dorado and lived after 1936 in Shreveport with her husband, Duncan M. Gilcrease (1914-1974).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=eula-pearl-shannon-gilcrease&pid=163083235&|title=Eula Pearl Shannon Gilcrease (sister of George W. Shannon)|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=February 17, 2013|accessdate=June 25, 2015}}</ref>
Shannon had four siblings, Inez S. Cobb (1907-1993) of Refugio in southeastern [[Texas]], Louise Shannon Thorne Vaughn (1909-2000)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Vaughn&GSfn=Louise&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=4&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=35662333&df=all&|title=Louise Shannon Thorne Vaughn|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=October 9, 2019}}</ref> of North Little Rock, Henry H. Shannon, Jr., of El Dorado, and Eula Pearl Shannon Gilcrease (1917-2013), who was born in El Dorado and lived after 1936 in Shreveport with her husband, Duncan M. Gilcrease (1914-1974).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=eula-pearl-shannon-gilcrease&pid=163083235&|title=Eula Pearl Shannon Gilcrease (sister of George W. Shannon)|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=February 17, 2013|accessdate=June 25, 2015}}</ref>
==Career==
==Career==
Shannon launched his career as a reporter and sports editor at ''The El Dorado News-Times," one of the Clyde E. Palmer newspapers, since known as WEHCO Media, Inc.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rexnelsonsouthernfried.com/?p=3493|title=Walter Hussman, Newspaperman to the Core|publisher=rexnelsonsouthernfried.com|author=Rex Nelson|date=February 10, 2012|accessdate=June 25, 2015}}</ref> In 1935, he joined the staff of ''The Shreveport Times,'' a morning daily, and became assistant city editor. In 1938, he was hired by ''The Alexandria Town Talk]',<ref name=obit>George Shannon obituary, ''The Shreveport Times'', April 27, 1998</ref> then an afternoon daily and Sunday morning publication in [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]]. Now a morning paper, ''The Town Talk'' is still the largest newspaper in central Louisiana. The veteran Alexandria managing editor, [[Adras LaBorde]], an inductee of the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame, came to ''The Town Talk'' after Shannon had already left.<ref>"Bordelonville native among six to be inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame," ''Avoyelles Today,'' January 28, 2012.</ref>
Shannon launched his career as a reporter and sports editor at ''The El Dorado News-Times," one of the Clyde E. Palmer newspapers, since known as WEHCO Media, Inc.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rexnelsonsouthernfried.com/?p=3493|title=Walter Hussman, Newspaperman to the Core|publisher=rexnelsonsouthernfried.com|author=Rex Nelson|date=February 10, 2012|accessdate=June 25, 2015}}</ref> In 1935, he joined the staff of ''The Shreveport Times,'' a morning daily, and became assistant city editor. In 1938, he was hired by ''The Alexandria Town Talk]',<ref name=obit>George Shannon obituary, ''The Shreveport Times'', April 27, 1998</ref> then an afternoon daily and Sunday morning publication in [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]]. Now a morning paper, ''The Town Talk'' is still the largest newspaper in central Louisiana. The veteran Alexandria managing editor, [[Adras LaBorde]], an inductee of the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame, came to ''The Town Talk'' after Shannon had already left.<ref>"Bordelonville native among six to be inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame," ''Avoyelles Today,'' January 28, 2012.</ref>
Shannon's career was interrupted by service in the [[United States Army]] in [[World War II]]. Afterwards, he joined the staff of the since defunct ''[[Shreveport Journal]]'', an afternoon Monday-Saturday daily. Shannon was named editor of ''The Journal'' in July 1953 and retained that position until April 1971.<ref name=obit/> During this period, ''The Journal'' was owned by the family of its publisher, [[Douglas Fisher Attaway]]; the publication was regionally known for its staunchly conservative editorials.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://scripts.lsus.edu/libarchives/tags.php?tag=5946|title=Shreveport Journal Collection, 1921-1990|publisher=scripts.lsus.edu|accessdate=June 25, 2015}}</ref>
Shannon's career was interrupted by service in the [[United States Army]] in [[World War II]]. Afterwards, he joined the staff of the since defunct ''[[Shreveport Journal]]'', an afternoon Monday-Saturday daily. Shannon was named editor of ''The Journal'' in July 1953 and retained that position until April 1971.<ref name=obit/> During this period, ''The Journal'' was owned by the family of its publisher, [[Douglas Fisher Attaway]]; the publication was regionally known for its staunchly conservative editorials.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://scripts.lsus.edu/libarchives/tags.php?tag=5946|title=Shreveport Journal Collection, 1921-1990|publisher=scripts.lsus.edu|accessdate=June 25, 2015}}</ref>
Shannon urged the southern states to leave the [[Democratic Party]]. He proposed "free electors" in 1964, by which the Democratic State Central Committee would designate either unpledged delegates or delegates pledged to a conservative candidate, rather than the official party choice, [[U.S. President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]. He claimed that then [[Governor]] [[Jimmie Davis]], a former Shreveporter, could have arranged for the unpledged slate to have been the official party designation in 1960, instead of the [[John F. Kennedy|Kennedy]]-Johnson national slate.<ref>"Committee key to Electors, Shannon Says," ''Minden Press,'' August 5, 1963, p. 1.</ref> In 1948, [[Strom Thurmond]], then the governor of [[South Carolina]], had carried the four states, including Louisiana, in which he was the official Democratic nominee in the [[general election]] against [[Harry Truman]] and [[Thomas E. Dewey]]. Shannon covered the 1964 [[Republican National Convention]] in [[San Francisco]], [[California]], which nominated [[U.S. Senator]] [[Barry Goldwater]] of [[Arizona]] to challenge President Johnson. The convention marked a defeat for the eastern wing of the party, many of whose delegates coalesced around either Governor [[Nelson Rockefeller]] of [[New York]] or [[William Scranton]] of [[Pennsylvania]].<ref>"Barry Cops GOP Banner for Conservatives," ''[[Shreveport Journal]],'' July 16, 1964, p. 1</ref> When the unpledged elector movement failed to develop. Shannon editorially endorsed Goldwater,<ref name=findagrave/> and Thurmond defected to the Republican Party.<ref name=findagrave/>
Shannon urged the southern states to leave the [[Democratic Party]]. He proposed "free electors" in 1964, by which the Democratic State Central Committee would designate either unpledged delegates or delegates pledged to a conservative candidate, rather than the official party choice, [[U.S. President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]. He claimed that then [[Governor]] [[Jimmie Davis]], a former Shreveporter, could have arranged for the unpledged slate to have been the official party designation in 1960, instead of the [[John F. Kennedy|Kennedy]]-Johnson national slate.<ref>"Committee key to Electors, Shannon Says," ''Minden Press,'' August 5, 1963, p. 1.</ref> In 1948, [[Strom Thurmond]], then the governor of [[South Carolina]], had carried the four states, including Louisiana, in which he was the official Democratic nominee in the [[general election]] against [[Harry Truman]] and [[Thomas E. Dewey]]. Shannon covered the 1964 [[Republican National Convention]] in [[San Francisco]], [[California]], which nominated [[U.S. Senator]] [[Barry Goldwater]] of [[Arizona]] to challenge President Johnson. The convention marked a defeat for the eastern wing of the party, many of whose delegates coalesced around either Governor [[Nelson Rockefeller]] of [[New York]] or [[William Scranton]] of [[Pennsylvania]].<ref>"Barry Cops GOP Banner for Conservatives," ''[[Shreveport Journal]],'' July 16, 1964, p. 1</ref> When the unpledged elector movement failed to develop. Shannon editorially endorsed Goldwater,<ref name=findagrave/> and Thurmond defected to the Republican Party.<ref name=findagrave/>
Even in state politics, Shannon had sometimes broken with the Democrats, as in the 1964 [[Governor|gubernatorial]] general election, when ''The Journal'' urged support for the conservative Republican candidate, [[Charlton Lyons]] of Shreveport. Lyons ran strongly in northwest Louisiana but was decisively defeated statewide by the Democrat [[John J. McKeithen]]. Shannon opposed [[Moderate Republican]]s whose presence in the party, he believed, served to discourage Southerners at the time from switching partisan affiliation. However, in the 1961 [[special election]] for the [[United States House of Representatives]] for Louisiana's 4th congressional district, Shannon had penned the editorial supporting the Democrat [[Joe Waggonner]], who defeated Charlton Lyons to claim the seat vacated by the death of veteran [[U.S. Representative]] Thomas Overton Brooks. Shannon wrote that "citizens who understand the principles of states' rights are not likely to be fooled by the claim that the election of Waggonner could be viewed as a victory for the Kennedy regime."<ref>"Shreveport Journal Endorses Waggonner," reprinted in ''Minden Herald,'' December 14, 1961, p. 8.</ref>
Even in state politics, Shannon had sometimes broken with the Democrats, as in the 1964 [[Governor|gubernatorial]] general election, when ''The Journal'' urged support for the conservative Republican candidate, [[Charlton Lyons]] of Shreveport. Lyons ran strongly in northwest Louisiana but was decisively defeated statewide by the Democrat [[John J. McKeithen]]. Shannon opposed [[Moderate Republican]]s whose presence in the party, he believed, served to discourage Southerners at the time from switching partisan affiliation. However, in the 1961 [[special election]] for the [[United States House of Representatives]] for Louisiana's 4th congressional district, Shannon had penned the editorial supporting the Democrat [[Joe Waggonner]], who defeated Charlton Lyons to claim the seat vacated by the death of veteran [[U.S. Representative]] Thomas Overton Brooks. Shannon wrote that "citizens who understand the principles of states' rights are not likely to be fooled by the claim that the election of Waggonner could be viewed as a victory for the Kennedy regime."<ref>"Shreveport Journal Endorses Waggonner," reprinted in ''Minden Herald,'' December 14, 1961, p. 8.</ref>
''The Journal'' opposed most Kennedy-Johnson policies in its editorials. In 1968, the paper endorsed the American Independent Party presidential candidate, then former Governor [[George Wallace]] of [[Alabama]], who won Louisiana's then ten electoral votes by plurality but lost the election nationally to Republican [[Richard M. Nixon]]. Wallace came to Shreveport in 1971 to speak at Shannon's "appreciation dinner".<ref name=findagrave/>
''The Journal'' opposed most Kennedy-Johnson policies in its editorials. In 1968, the paper endorsed the American Independent Party presidential candidate, then former Governor [[George Wallace]] of [[Alabama]], who won Louisiana's then ten electoral votes by plurality but lost the election nationally to Republican [[Richard M. Nixon]]. Wallace came to Shreveport in 1971 to speak at Shannon's "appreciation dinner".<ref name=findagrave/>
After he left ''The Journal'', Shannon was associated for several years with ''The Citizen,'' a monthly [[magazine]] of the Citizens' Council published in the capital city of [[Jackson]], [[Mississippi]]. ''The Citizen'' succeeded the former newspaper called ''The Citizens' Council,'' published from 1955 to 1961.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.citizenscouncils.com/|title=''The Citizens' Council''|author=Euan Hague|publisher=citizenscouncils.com|accessdate=June 25, 2015}}</ref> Self-identified as "the official journal of the Citizens' Councils of America," the publication opposed the [[civil rights]] movement. ''The Citizen'' began in 1961 and halted production in January 1979, as segregation fell into disfavor across the South.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/general_library/archives/finding_aids/MUM00072.html|title=Periodicals: ''The Citizen''|publisher=olemiss.edu|accessdate=June 25, 2015}}</ref> Shannon c. 1977 returned to Shreveport, where he remained for the rest of his life.<ref name=findagrave/>
After he left ''The Journal'', Shannon was associated for several years with ''The Citizen,'' a monthly [[magazine]] of the Citizens' Council published in the capital city of [[Jackson]], [[Mississippi]]. ''The Citizen'' succeeded the former newspaper called ''The Citizens' Council,'' published from 1955 to 1961.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.citizenscouncils.com/|title=''The Citizens' Council''|author=Euan Hague|publisher=citizenscouncils.com|accessdate=June 25, 2015}}</ref> Self-identified as "the official journal of the Citizens' Councils of America," the publication opposed the [[civil rights]] movement. ''The Citizen'' began in 1961 and halted production in January 1979, as segregation fell into disfavor across the South.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/general_library/archives/finding_aids/MUM00072.html|title=Periodicals: ''The Citizen''|publisher=olemiss.edu|accessdate=June 25, 2015}}</ref> Shannon c. 1977 returned to Shreveport, where he remained for the rest of his life.<ref name=findagrave/>
Meanwhile, Douglas Attaway sold ''The Journal'' in 1976 to Shreveport businessman [[Charles T. Beaird]], an avowed liberal Republican who had once served on the Caddo Parish Police Jury, since renamed and reorganized as the Caddo Parish Commission. Under Beaird and editor [[Stanley Tiner]], a Democrat and later an unsuccessful congressional candidate who was retained from Attaway's staff, the editorial policy of ''The Journal'' switched firmly to the political left. Beaird announced the closure of ''The Journal'' on January 29, 1991, effective March 30, after ninety-six years of production. In the previous decade, the newspaper had lost more than half its circulation from a high of nearly 40,000 to barely 16,000 as well as vastly reduced advertising sales. "There just comes a time when it becomes uneconomical to go on. It was a very tough, sad decision," Beaird said.<ref>"Shreveport Journal ends publication after 96 years," ''Minden Press-Herald,'' March 30, 1991, p. 1.</ref>
Meanwhile, Douglas Attaway sold ''The Journal'' in 1976 to Shreveport businessman [[Charles T. Beaird]], an avowed liberal Republican who had once served on the Caddo Parish Police Jury, since renamed and reorganized as the Caddo Parish Commission. Under Beaird and editor [[Stanley Tiner]], a Democrat and later an unsuccessful congressional candidate who was retained from Attaway's staff, the editorial policy of ''The Journal'' switched firmly to the political left. Beaird announced the closure of ''The Journal'' on January 29, 1991, effective March 30, after ninety-six years of production. In the previous decade, the newspaper had lost more than half its circulation from a high of nearly 40,000 to barely 16,000 as well as vastly reduced advertising sales. "There just comes a time when it becomes uneconomical to go on. It was a very tough, sad decision," Beaird said.<ref>"Shreveport Journal ends publication after 96 years," ''Minden Press-Herald,'' March 30, 1991, p. 1.</ref>
Shannon was a member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the National Conference of Editorial Writers, since known as the Association of Opinion Journalists.<ref name=findagrave/>
Shannon was a member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the National Conference of Editorial Writers, since known as the Association of Opinion Journalists.<ref name=findagrave/>
==Personal life==
==Personal life==
Shannon was a member of the Downtown Rotary International in Shreveport, one of the largest civic clubs in the nation. He was a past president of the Shreveport chapter of the Reserve Officers Association, an organization formed in 1922 to promote national security issues.<ref name=findagrave/>
Shannon was a member of the Downtown Rotary International in Shreveport, one of the largest civic clubs in the nation. He was a past president of the Shreveport chapter of the Reserve Officers Association, an organization formed in 1922 to promote national security issues.<ref name=findagrave/>
Shannon's archival materials, including a 1977 oral history interview, are located at the Noel Memorial Library of Louisiana State University in Shreveport.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nwla-archives.org/guide/oha.htm|title=Shannon, George|publisher=lsus.edu|date=1977|accessdate=June 25, 2015}}</ref>
Shannon's archival materials, including a 1977 oral history interview, are located at the Noel Memorial Library of Louisiana State University in Shreveport.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nwla-archives.org/guide/oha.htm|title=Shannon, George|publisher=lsus.edu|date=1977|accessdate=June 25, 2015}}</ref>
==References==
==References==
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