A native of Walker, Iowa, Irving Brant (1885 -- 1976) graduated from the University of Iowa in 1909. He became a reporter for the Iowa City Republican in 1909 and later served as a reporter and editor with the Clinton Herald and the Des Moines Register and Tribune. In 1918 he joined the St. Louis Star as an editorial writer. He left in 1923, to try playwriting. His works were performed in regional theaters but never made Broadway. During this time he also wrote poetry, short stories, children's novels, and magazine articles. Brant returned to newspaper work in 1930 as editorial page editor of the St. Louis Star-Times. After 1938 (except for a two year stint with the Chicago Sun), Brant pursued writing on a full-time basis. His monumental biography of James Madison is now the standard reference work and is generally considered to be one of the most important historical biographies of our time.