"O.K.B.," as the legendary Oliver Kriby Bovard became known throughout the newspaper world, is widely regarded-along with Carr Van Anda of the New York Times--as one of the ablest managing editors of his era. Bovard deployed the staff of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch with the brilliance of a great general, and under his leadership the newspaper built a distinguidhed reputation for agressive reporting and journalistic integrity. In his newspaper's handling of day-to-day news, Bovard insisted upon a presentation that was accurate and unbiased; as a crusading editor in the Pulitzer tradition, he exposed waste and corruption at all levels--from local graft in St. Louis to the national scandal known as Teapot Dome. Although he was largely unknown to the general public-Bovard had a lifelong passion for self-effacement-he became a heroic figure of epic proportions to reporters and other editors as tales of his genius spread...