Edwin Arnold Menninger was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1896 and grew up there. His father ran the Menninger Clinic, a prominent psychiatric hospital. Menninger attended a local university, Washburn College, and worked for the school newspaper. During his junior year, a chemistry lab explosion cost him his left hand, blinded him in one eye, lacerated his face, and nearly killed him—ensuring he would not be drafted during World War I. After recovering, Menninger became a journalist for TheNew York Tribune while attending Columbia University’s journalism school. But during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, he was stricken with a serious case of influenza. Doctors advised him to recover in the warm Florida climate.
Menninger visited Stuart in early 1919, staying with Henry Newton Gaines, whose daughter had married Menninger’s brother. He was immediately impressed with the area and bought land in Tropical Farms for a citrus grove, though he continued to work for the The Tribune—primarily residing in New York City until 1922 when he relocated permanently to Florida. He worked as the night editor of the The Palm Beach Post before purchasing the The South Florida Developer, a regional newspaper based in West Palm Beach. In 1928, Menninger purchased the The Stuart News. The Developer ceased publication in 1932, but Menninger retained ownership of the News until 1957. He also served as the editor of The Stuart News until 1945, when he handed the reigns over to Ernest Lyons.
Beyond his journalism and citrus interests, Menninger founded Stuart Office Supply and Southeastern Printing—once a pair of subsidiary services provided by TheStuart News office that eventually split off into separate companies when he sold the newspaper.
Menninger served as president of the Stuart Commercial Club, Stuart Rotary Club, and the Florida Press Association. He used his influence as a newspaper editor-publisher to lend support to local civic causes, including the establishment of Martin Memorial Hospital and Stuart’s Memorial Park. In 1947, Menninger joined the Reed Family of Jupiter Island in successfully championing state acquisition of the former Camp Murphy property as a state park. Three years later, he prevailed in his request that the park be named after Jonathan Dickinson, a Quaker merchant famously shipwrecked nearby in 1696. Dickinson’s memoir had been republished in 1945—an inspirational tale of Christian deliverance to some and a rare anthropological source for others. Menninger served on the Jonathan Dickinson State Park advisory council until 1961.
Over time, Menninger became an avid horticulturist. He wrote several books and articles on the subject and exchanged seeds with growers around the world. His hobby of growing thousands of tropical plants on his property earned him the nickname “The Flowering Tree Man.” Florida State University and Washburn, his alma mater, both eventually awarded Menninger honorary doctorates for his horticulture literature and newspaper work…