ABSTRACT
The fascinating story of Steve Hannagan, America’s great press agent of the first half century, ended when he died of a heart attack in Nairobi, Kenya, on February 5, 1953, just short of his 54th birthday. He was there on a trip for the Coca-Cola Export Corp., a major client for many years. His heart gave out under the racehorse life he had led since going to work on a newspaper at age 14. In Collier’s Magazine for November 22, 1947, Dickson Hartwell wrote of Hannagan that he was “probably the most unusual press agent who ever drew breath.” Given the stars of press agentry such as Richard Maney, Jim Moran, Henry Rogers, and others, this was high praise indeed.
