Walt Mason.
“Uncle” Walt Mason was a poet, humorist, and journalist in Kansas.
Mason was born in Columbus, Ontario, Canada, on May 4, 1862, a son of John and Lydia S. Campbell Mason. He was self-educated, and in 1880, he came to the United States to work in the newspaper industry. From 1885 to 1887, he was employed at the Atchison Globe in Kansas, and later, he was connected with the Nebraska State Journal, which was published in Lincoln. In 1893, he became a writer on the Washington Evening News, and the same year, he married Ella Foss of Wooster, Ohio, on February 15, 1893.
Beginning in 1907, he was associated with William Allen White in the publication of the Emporia Gazette. Mr. Mason was also the author of Rhymes of the Range, Uncle Walt, and a Calendar. His “Poetic Philosophy” was published in several newspapers throughout the country. He died in 1939.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated June 2025.
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