The Card: ♦King♦ of Diamonds
The Suit: For Deal Me In 2023, ♦♦♦Diamonds♦♦♦ is my suit for short biographies of Indiana Governors and their first ladies. (No, sadly Indiana is yet to elect a woman governor)
The Authors: Ronald J. Allman II (from Governors of Indiana book) and Margaret Moore Post (from First Ladies of Indiana and The Governors book). Allman is an Associate Professor of Journalism at Indiana University Southeast and Post was an accomplished journalist whose career began in Louisiana covering the notorious Huey Long. Read more about Margaret Moore Post here.
The “Story”: Edgar Doud Whitcomb, the 43rd Governor of Indiana and his wife, Patricia Dolfuss Holcomb
Governor Edgar Whitcomb
“Whitcomb escaped from a Japanese prison on May 22, 1942, by swimming eight miles in shark-infested waters between Corregidor and the mainland of the Philippines.”
I was probably eight years old or so the first time I was old enough to answer the question, “Who’s the Governor of Indiana?” And the answer to that question was “Governor Whitcomb!” Admittedly I only possessed this knowledge as a ‘fact in a vacuum’ and probably had very little idea of what a Governor was other than him being the leader of our state. A few years back I bought a book of brief biographies of all the Indiana governors, edited by Linda C. Gugin and James E. St. Clair, who I also had the pleasure of meeting just this past December at the Indiana Historical Society’s annual Holiday Author Fair, featuring scores of Indiana authors.
Whitcomb was a World War 2 veteran who also spent time as a P.O.W held by the Japanese, escaping twice(!) and even wrote a book about his experiences, titled “Escape from Corregidor.” After his escape, he fought with the Philippine Resistance. In short, it seems like he was a real badass.
As governor he had the misfortune of – despite being a member of the party which held large majorities in the state congress – presiding over the state when his party was embroiled in internal strife, making it hard to achieve some of his intended legislation. One thing he held the line on, however, was his promise not to raise taxes (gotta admire an elected official who can do that!).
In his retirement, he lived in a cabin in the Hoosier National Forest and later near the Ohio River, finding peace in solitude which I found enviable.
Below: There is a bust of Whitcomb in the Indiana State House (less than a mile from Bibliophilopolis Headquarters in downtown Indianapolis!) and, before launching Deal Me in 2023, I took pictures of it and those of several other governors who may appear later in the year in this blog.
Patricia Dolfuss Whitcomb was described as “a glamorous brunette beauty” who met Edgar when she was working modeling in a tearoom in an Indianapolis department store (probably the famous L.S. Ayres tea room?). Along with the Governor she raised five children yet still found time to support many worthy causes and was also a much sought after ‘guest of honor’ at local events. She was also an ‘amateur’ fashion designer and once, when a gown of her own making was complimented by the press leading them to ask who the designer was, she said, “Hoosier.”
UPDATE: Bibliophilopolis readers are the best! Upon reading this post, one of them – who worked for many years in the Indiana Statehouse – said that I reminded him that he had bought the Edgar Whitcomb book at a garage sale, and he sent me a couple pictures. Thanks, Geoff!
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