Prof. George Regis Laird

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© Hayes, Detroit
PROF. GEORGE REGIS LAIRD Educator Lecturer Humorist
Address-1977-


GEORGE REGIS LAIRD
FIFTEEN years ago Fate, or perhaps the call of his strong Scotch-Irish nature, said to George Regis Laird, then a young college professor: Quit your classic calling!  Get into a more active profession!  Go after big game in that journalistic jungle—the National Capital!  And so after seven years of teaching in the University of Wisconsin and Northwestern College, Illinois, Prof. Laird quit his educational work and entered the newspaper field in Washington, D. C., where he did, indeed, go after big game.  There he met and interviewed, personally, Roosevelt, Harding, Davis, La Follette, Uncle Joe Cannon, Alexander Graham Bell, Edwin Markham, Mark Twain and many other more or less brilliant celebrities.

Out of these interesting interviews there naturally sprang his popular Lyceum and Chautauqua lecture, Sun-Crowned Kings I Have Met, a vehicle which gives full sway to his humorous and dramatic talents and has been enthusiastically received.

But his knowledge of celebrities is not limited to his newspaper experience.  While teaching he had, as chairman of the college lecture course, met and entertained some of the most distinguished Kings of the Platform, among them such brilliant preachers as Russell Conwell, S. Parkes Cadman and Bishop Quayle, such famous statesmen as Colonel Bryan and that Prince of Southern Orators—U. S. Senator Taylor of Tennessee.

And now Fate was to give Prof. Laird still another Vision of the Kings.  During the World War he was called into the Publicity Service of the United States Treasury and also of the American Red Cross and, as Special Representative, spoke in every section of the country, helping to put over the big war loans.  So great was his success that, after the War, he became the Personal Representative of Herbert Hoover in the work of the American Relief Administration.  More recently he has been Associate Lecturer with Pussyfoot Johnson for the cause of World-Wide Prohibition.

From this association with Hoover, Johnson and other constructive leaders, Prof. Laird has caught a new vision of the Age of Reconstruction and thus has formed the conviction that it is a duty of the lecture platform, as well as of the press and public schools, to keep alive the ideals of America's enlightened thinkers, of her Sun-Crowned Kings


A time like this demands,
Tall men, sun-crowned,
Who live above the fog,
In public and in private duty
Thinking.




Humorous, Dramatic Lectures

SUN-CROWNED KINGS I HAVE MET.
A Lecture of Wit and Optimism.  Humorous Anecdotes and Personal Recollections of Optimistic Celebrities.  Dramatic Word-Pictures of Roosevelt, the Irrepressible—Our Friend Harding—Fighting Bob La Follette—Fiddling Bob Taylor—Smiling Bill Taft—Golden Pen Wilson—Silver Tongue Bryan—Silent Cal.  Coolidge—Uncle Joe Cannon—Other Types as Bell, the Inventor and Markham, the Poet—A Closing Tribute to Mark Twain as the King of American Wit and Humor.



Press Comments

Dramatic, humorous and inspiring—
Adrian Telegram.


No subjects are more entertaining than our own American Kings, especially when presented by that Prince of Entertainers, George Regis Laird—
Detroit Free Press.


With genial humor and dramatic descriptions which stirred his audience to frequent laughter and applause, Prof. Laird addressed the Civic Association—
St. Paul Pioneer-Press.


Prof. Laird has the actor's art of quick portrayal.  He pictures the kingly characters whom he has known so vividly they seem to speak and act again their royal parts before his hearers.  We heard again the strident voice of Teddy.  We saw Wilson's golden pen flashing in the sunlight and then roared with laughter as Mark Twain came back to life—
Washington, D. C. Evening Star.


Like Caesar of old Prof. Laird arrived, spoke and the Convention was his!  His logic was convincing and brightened by humor but the Legion men came to their feet with a storm of applause as he described some of the Sun-Crowned Kings of our recent history—
Louisville Courier-Journal.



MORE KINGS AND SOME QUEENS OF THE NEW AGE
Another Humorous and Dramatic Lecture.  Available for Return Dates.  Personal Recollections of Humanitarian Leaders as Herbert Hoover and Thomas W. Lamont—Humane Kings of Industry as Ford, Motor King—Rickenbacker, Air King—Sam Gompers Versus Hell Maria Dawes—Some Queens of Reconstruction as Mrs. Catt—Jane Adams—Anna Gordon—Mable Willebrandt—A Closing Tribute to Herbert Hoover as the Ideal Industrial King of the Twentieth Century.



THE HAPPY LAND OF CANAAN
A Popular Sunday-Lecture.  Adapted for Y. M. C. A. and Church Gatherings.  Also Popular with Chautauquas.  A Word-Picture of Christ as The World's Greatest Optimist—Glimpses of Charles M. Sheldon—George W. Truett—S. Parkes Cadman—Bishop Quayle—Archbishop Williams—Pussyfoot Johnson and Other Christian Optimists Whom Prof. Laird Has Met in The Course of His Career.  A Closing Plea for A More Cheerful Christianity.





GEORGE REGIS LAIRD

PROF. LAIRD has campaigned and lectured in every section of the country.  Everywhere he is received with enthusiasm.  His charm of voice and manner, his tall, magnetic presence and humorous, dramatic powers, combine to make an irresistible appeal.  From chautauquas, clubs, churches and conventions of every kind the verdict is the same: Come again, Prof. Laird!  Come again!



A Few Opinions from Men of Note
Hon. Irvine Lenroot, U. S. Senator, Wisconsin—I have heard Prof. Laird's Chautauqua lectures and always with keen pleasure.  I endorse him in the highest terms.  He is a keen thinker, original and stimulating.  All who hear him once will wish to hear him again.

Hon. Herbert Hoover, Secretary of Commerce—I evidence my personal appreciation of George Laird's skillful service for the American Relief Administration.  It has been a great contribution to our great success.

Rev. Wm. J. Frizzell, Washington, D. C.—We had Prof. Laird lecture on our Ingram Memorial Church Lyceum Course last winter.  Our course contained such stars as Senator Pat Harrison, Dr. Harvey Wiley and Cartoonist Berryman.  Prof. Laird took the place of Senator La Follette, who was ill.  He is a dynamo of wit and logic and described our Sun-Crowned Kings with magnetic power.  Our people were delighted.  They all say: Come again, Prof. Laird!  Come again!



Three Reasons For His Lyceum Success

1.
He is an experienced educator.  His lectures bear the stamp of scholarship.  He is a graduate, B. A., of Washburn College and a post-graduate, M. A., of Harvard University and Emerson College, Boston.  He was for two years a high school principal and teacher of history and literature and for seven years a professor of English language and expression in the University of Wisconsin and Northwestern College, Illinois.
2.
He is a veteran publicist.  His lectures are the outgrowth of his long journalistic and governmental experience in Washington, D. C.  They have also been greatly influenced by his association with Herbert Hoover, Pussyfoot Johnson and other humanitarian leaders.
3.
He is a typical American.  Of Scotch and Irish extraction he has the natural wit and eloquence of these races.  He is descended on his mother's side of the house from the Revolutionary War general, Nathaniel Greene and on his father's side from the pioneer Scotch immigrant and Indian fighter, Captain Nathan Laird, who settled in Maine in 1636 and married Bridget Murphy—nuff said!