George Matthew Adams was a newspaper columnist, author, writer, philosopher and publisher who founded the Adams Newspaper Service in 1907. He is the author of several books and "You Can" is the most famous of his works.
Mr. Adams became a well-know columnist with his "Today's Talk" which was a kind of short essay he would write for sundry newspapers and had an inspirational appeal for the average American citizen of the time. His syndicate supplied features to many newspapers worldwide for more than fifty years.
Furthermore, it is known that Mr. Adams owned a collection of rare etchings and more than 5000 books, many of them first editions.
Mr. Adams on etchings:
"Etchings early appealed to me because of their intimate character. Some of them seem to have been etched from the heart."
Mr Adams on books:
"I walk all over many of the books I read. Anyone who comes across them after I am through with them will see my tracks. That is, my pencil tracks, which, in reality are the tracks of my mind at it travels through a book."
"I am certain that anything with the word book attached to it will ever be interesting and fascinating to me."