Only One Ernie

When Ernie Pyle died, his syndicate offered newspapers a successor: Pyle's closest friend, fellow Hoosier and ex-boss, Lee Miller, who was already in the Pacific on a news assignment (TIME, May 14). Of the 396 newspapers which had printed Pyle's column, 151 would accept no substitutes. The rest decided to give Miller a try. Probably no one had more misgivings about the substitution than Miller himself. In his first column he wrote: "Maybe I can fill the space where his copy was run, but I'm fully aware that nobody will ever fill the place that Ernie won in the . . . hearts of so many . .. Americans."

He added: "All I can do is write like Miller." Writing like Miller seemed to demand frequent references to admirals and generals, a heavy accent on I and not enough on G.I. Miller's Washington editors cabled him, suggesting that he change his approach. Instead, still depressed by his friend's death and by his own inability to catch on as a columnist, Lee Miller gave up last week and came home--after one month and five days in Ernie Pyle's spot.

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