Young Esperantist Corresponds Across Lines of Battle

An Esperantist
in Missouri

It’s not clear when George A. Irion learned Esperanto, though in 1911, he placed a listing for correspondence in the Amerika Esperantisto. At that time, he was 18 years old, and just finishing high school. He was the son of George and Agathe Irion, both of whom were immigrants from Germany. The older George Irion became a farmer in Missouri, although judging from the local newspaper accounts, the family managed some degree of social prominence, with the senior Irion on the board of the local country club.

As a ten-year-old, Irion had a brush with death. George went swimming with his brother fifteen-year old brother Billy, and their friends, Earl Skinner (18), Tom Shire (probably William T. Shire, 14), and Park Sellard (also 10). George nearly drowned, but, according to the Mexico Missouri Message of June 18, 1903, he was rescued by Tom Shire. While swimming, Earl Skinner could no longer stay afloat, and when his friends realized he was gone, all they saw was his hand waving. Mr. Skinner’s body was later retrieved from the pond.

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