.jpeg)
The Back Story
The Ellinwood family in Arizona statehood, writing, publishing and editing
Twin Palms Consulting & Publishing LLC
Establishing Statehood & a Daily Newspaper
E. E. Ellinwood was a prominent lawyer in the firm of Ellinwood & Ross and served as Vice President of the American Bar Association for several years, and as the attorney general for Arizona early in its statehood. He was a member of the Arizona State Constitutional Convention, though he refused to sign the final document as it contained a clause allowing for the recall of judges.
E.E. Ellinwood also served on the Arizona Board of Regents from 1923 to 1927. With his wife, Minnie Walkley, he had two children, Ralph and Cornelia. E.E. Ellinwood negotiated the agreement for his son, Ralph, to purchase a newspaper that would become the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, Arizona*.
Memoirs of WWI Experience
Ralph Everett Ellinwood, son of E.E. Ellinwood and my husband's grandfather, served in the United States Army in France during World War I and was taken prisoner by the Germans. After returning from the war, Ralph E. Ellinwood wrote a memoir of his experience, Behind German Lines: A Narrative Of The Everyday Life Of An American Prisoner Of War, published by Knickerbocker Press (NY:1920).
Editing & Publishing
With his father's encouragement and assistance, Ralph E. Ellinwood purchased a newspaper in 1924, then known as the Dispatch, with partners William R. Mathews and Lewis Douglas. Ralph was "the undisputed boss of the news room and editorial policies,", and during his tenure was the youngest editor of a daily paper in the state. Ralph well respected and served as the president of the state press association.Ralph also served as editor of the Arizona Daily Star for six years, before he died suddenly of a heart attack at age 37. Ralph's wife, Clare Rounsevell Ellinwood, was described as having "a strong personality and considerable business experience," and stepped into Ralph's ownership of the Arizona Daily Star after his death*.
Thomas Rounsevell Ellinwood (1922-1995)
.jpeg)
Ralph and Clare had three children, John Cole, Thomas Rounsevell (Tom) and Betsy.
Editing & Publishing
Ralph’s widow, Clare Ellinwood, encouraged their son Thomas Rounsevell Ellinwood (Tom) to become a “newspaper man”. So, when Tom graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in journalism, he joined the family business and served as editor and publisher as well as political cartoonist at the Arizona Daily Star for many years. Read more...
Ranching, Cow Country & More Cow Country
Tom managed cattle ranches in Arizona and New Mexico. He spent a great deal of time raising and herding cattle, putting up fences, conducting cattle drives and doing whatever was necessary to keep the ranch productive.
Hundreds of Tom Ellinwood’s inked illustrations captured both the drama and comedy of quotidian southwestern ranch life. He also could not resist poking fun at the differences between real cattle ranching and dude ranching.
The Arizona Daily Star published a collection of his ranch life cartoons entitled, Cow Country (1959). Later, Tom and his son, Ralph E. Ellinwood, created a family publishing company called Twin Palms Publishing LLC and published the sequel, More Cow Country (1972).
Why Twin Palms?
According to Ralph Ellinwood, Tom's eldest son, there were two lush and intertwined palms growing in Granny Clare's backyard patio. The family had nicknamed them the Twin Palms. When naming the family publishing company, Twin Palms "just seemed to fit".
We wanted to honor Tom's memory and his life's work in ranching, writing, editing and publishing by naming our company Twin Palms Consulting & Publishing.
One of our publishing projects will be to reissue More Cow Country with a new foreword by his son, Ralph E. Ellinwood, and photographs of their real ranch life.
Karen C. Ellinwood
.jpeg)
Subscribe
to the Twin Palms Consulting & Publishing Newsletter