Harlan Miller

Harlan Miller rented this house in the 1930s, while working as a columnist for the Washington Post. During that time, he continued to write his popular and often provocative column “Over the Coffee” for the Des Moines Register, a position he held for nearly 40 years. He also wrote at various times for United Press, the New York Post, the New York Herald, and the Miami Daily News.

Miller was born in Poland, and immigrated to Iowa with his family at age 5. He served in the U.S. Army Air Service in World War I, and was cited for “meritorious and conspicuous service with the Allied European Forces.” After the war, he completed college and law school, but never practiced law, turning instead to a career in journalism. He served in the Army again in WWII, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Miller published one book, There’s a Man in the House (1955), a collection of humorous and autobiographical essays he originally wrote for a monthly feature in Ladies Home Journal.