Irvin Cobb leads his league in everything but base running. He went to the Belgian battle-fields equipped as a war correspondent with a facile pen, a sense of humor, and a wonderful repertoire of darkey stories. He came back with a neutral dialect, a reputation enhanced by the depth and sincerity of his writing, and the mantles of Archibald Forbes and Bennett Burleigh combining to cover—at least—portions of him.
—Walter Hale
We have long appreciated the corn of the South whose bright kernels, properly distilled, make brighter Colonels still. Yet when before have we worshipped the Cobb of the South? Here, surely, is all the brightness and all the stimulation—and all the nourishment which a fat land can give to a lean and hungry world. More joy comes from one Cobb than from 1,000,000,000 bushels of corn—and although he is rare, in one sense, in another he may be ranked as the South’s largest output.
—Wallace Irwin
I see no reason why I should not say that I like Irvin Cobb—because I do, very much. He does not irritate the throat; and, if you are a magazine editor, his is the stuff you will eventually buy.
—F. P. A.
