Broun was born in
Brooklyn, the third of four children born to Heywood C. Broun and Henrietta Marie (née Brose) Broun. Broun attended
Harvard University, but did not earn a degree. He began his professional career writing
baseball stories in the sports section of the
New York Morning Telegraph. Broun worked at the
New York Tribune from 1912 to 1921, rising to drama critic. He started working in 1921 for the
New York World. While at the
World, he started writing his syndicated column,
It Seems to Me. In 1928, Broun moved to the
Scripps-Howard newspapers, including the
New York World-Telegram. Broun's column was published in the
World-Telegram until Scripps-Howard abruptly decided not to renew his contract. He was then picked up by the
New York Post. Broun's only column appeared in that paper two days before his death. As a drama critic, in 1917 Broun wrote about actor Geoffrey C. Stein in the controversial play
The Awakening of Spring: "[...] Geoffrey Stein gave a ludicrously inadequate performance in the important role of Melchior. It was easily the worst performance we have ever seen on any stage." Stein sued the
New York Tribune and Broun for libel; but in light of the judge's
jury instructions, Broun and the Tribune won the case. A few weeks later, he had to review a production with Stein in the cast. His only mention of the actor was in the last sentence of his column: "We did not think Geoffrey Stein was up to his usual standards." Broun coined the statement "Posterity is as likely to be wrong as anybody else". It is used widely, often in arguments about documentation and history. From 1927 to 1937, Broun wrote a regular column, titled "It Seems to Heywood Broun", for the magazine
The Nation. His column included criticism of another employer, the
New York World, who fired Broun as a result. Broun later left
The Nation for the rival
The New Republic. candidates for Congress in New York, 1930.Left to right:
Baruch Charney Vladeck, Heywood Broun,
Jacob Panken, and
Norman Thomas. In 1930, Broun unsuccessfully ran for the
U.S. Congress, as a
Socialist. A slogan of Broun's was "I'd rather be right than
Roosevelt." In 1933, along with
New York Evening Post Editor
Joseph Cookman, John Eddy of
The New York Times and Allen Raymond of the
New York Herald Tribune, Broun helped to found
The Newspaper Guild. Beginning February 8, 1933, Broun starred in a radio program,
The Red Star of Broadway, on
WOR in Newark, New Jersey. Broun was featured as "The Man About Town of Broadway." Sponsored by
Macy's, the program also included musicians and minstrels. In 1938, Broun helped found the weekly tabloid
Connecticut Nutmeg, soon renamed ''Broun's Nutmeg''. ==Personal life==