Allen Ginsmore

Allen Ginsmore is an art teacher and the new sponsor of the Odyssey Voice, a school newspaper that promises students freedom to challenge accepted ideas. He invites Lucy Cunningham-Schultz to become a roving editor and assigns an article attacking a group concerned about library books for children. Lucy investigates and writes a balanced account after seeing the material herself. Ginsmore refuses to publish it because it does not condemn the group as he expected. When Lucy asks about her own free speech, he limits it to the paper's editorial position and removes her. Creative but ideologically rigid, Allen celebrates expression only when it supports his conclusions. His contradiction inspires Lucy to begin an independent newspaper devoted to truth rather than a predetermined side.