Robert Blade – George McLean (STH '28)
Robert Blade of Jacksonville, FL. has written a book about our School of Theology Alumni, George McLean (STH 1928) called Tupelo Man: The Life and Times of George McLean, a Most Peculiar Newspaper Publisher. It will be published by the University Press of Mississippi on Nov. 1. McLean (1904-1983) earned his master’s degree at the school of theology in 1928; he was an ardent believer in the Social Gospel theology that encouraged an active involvement in improving the day-to-day lives of people. After he was fired from a teaching job at Rhodes College in Memphis over his Christian socialist beliefs, he decided to go into business for himself. In Tupelo, Mississippi, he bought what he called a “bankrupt paper from a bankrupt bank,” struggled to make it survive and prosper, and put his beliefs into practice. His community development work was well known both in the South and nationally. The newspaper, The Daily Journal, is owned by the community foundation McLean established before his death.