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Joseph Lelyveld

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Joseph Lelyveld
Born
Joseph Salem Lelyveld

(1937-04-05)April 5, 1937
Cincinnati, Ohio,U.S.
DiedJanuary 5, 2024(2024-01-05)(aged 86)
New York City, U.S.
EducationHarvard University(BA,MA)
Columbia University(MS)
Occupation(s)Journalist, author
Known forExecutive editor ofThe New York Times(1994–2001), earning a Pulitzer Prize forMove Your Shadow,controversy over bookGreat Soul
Children2 daughters

Joseph Salem Lelyveld(April 5, 1937 – January 5, 2024) was an American journalist. He was executive editor ofThe New York Timesfrom 1994 to 2001, and interim executive editor in 2003 after the resignation ofHowell Raines.[1]He was aPulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author, and a contributor to theNew York Review of Books.

Early life and education[edit]

Joseph Salem Lelyveld was born to aJewishfamily inCincinnation April 5, 1937.[2]His father wasArthur Lelyveld,aReform Jewishrabbiand political activist.[3][4]His parents separated and his father traveled much for his advocacy in politics, so Lelyveld was raised by other relatives, primarily in New York City.[3]He earned a BA degree in English and an MA in American history fromHarvard Universityin 1958 and 1959.[3]He also received his MS degree fromColumbia Universityin 1960.[2]

Career[edit]

The New York Times[edit]

In all, Lelyveld worked atThe New York Timesfor nearly 40 years, beginning in 1962.[1][5]At theTimes,he went fromcopy editortoforeign correspondentwithin three years. He was also a foreigneditorofThe New York Times,and itsmanaging editor.[1][6]

Authorship[edit]

Among Lelyveld's books isMove Your Shadow: South Africa, Black and White,based on his reporting fromJohannesburg,South Africa, in the 1960s and 1980s. He received thePulitzer Prize for General Non-Fictionin 1986 forMove Your Shadow.[7]

Lelyveld's bookGreat Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with Indiawas banned in theIndian stateofGujaratfrom publication for allegedly insinuating that the subject,Mahatma Gandhi,was in ahomosexualorhomophilicrelationship. This ban received a unanimous vote in favor of the state of Gujarat in April 2011 by Gujarat's state assembly.[8]

Lelyveld criticized the ban and rejected the allegations that his work claimed Gandhi to be homosexual or homophilic. He said:

The book does not say that Gandhi was bisexual or homosexual. It says that he was celibate and deeply attached toKallenbach.This is not news.[9]

Personal life[edit]

Lelyveld was married to Carolyn Fox from 1959 until her death in 2004, and had two daughters.[1]One of his daughters, Nita Lelyveld, became city editor of thePortland Press Heraldin 2021.[10]

Lelyvald died from complications ofParkinson's diseaseat his home in Manhattan, on January 5, 2024, at the age of 86.[3]

Works[edit]

  • "House of Bondage: A South African Black Man Exposes in His Own Pictures and Words the Bitter Life of His Homeland Today" (the foreword to a book by Ernest Cole). New York:Random House,1967. LCCN 67-21147.
  • Move Your Shadow: South Africa, Black and WhiteNew York:Crown Publishing Group,1985.ISBN978-0812912371.
  • Omaha Blues: A Memory Loop.New York:Farrar, Straus and Giroux,2005.ISBN978-0374225902.
  • Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with IndiaAlfred A. Knopf,2011.ISBN978-0-307-26958-4.
  • His Final Battle: The Last Months of Franklin RooseveltAlfred A. Knopf, 2016.ISBN978-0385350792.

References[edit]

  1. ^abcd"Center for Communication – Bios".Archived fromthe originalon December 31, 2008.RetrievedOctober 14,2008.
  2. ^abFischer, Heinz-D. (February 14, 2012).General Nonfiction Award 1962 – 1993.Walter de Gruyter.ISBN978-3-11-097212-2.Archivedfrom the original on April 4, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 11,2022.
  3. ^abcdMcFadden, Robert D.(January 5, 2024)."Joseph Lelyveld, Former Top Editor of The New York Times, Dies at 86".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on January 6, 2024.RetrievedJanuary 5,2024.
  4. ^Rosenblatt, Gary (May 22, 2019)."With NY Times Under Siege, Jewish Reporters Hit Back".The New York Jewish Week.Archivedfrom the original on October 8, 2020."Abe Rosenthal,Max Frankel,Joe Lelyveld,Jill Abramson— that's four Jewish executive editors "[the top editorial post] in the three decades he was on staff, Berger said, listing the names rapidly and with emotion in his voice.
  5. ^Lelyveld, Joseph(March 6, 2005)."Breaking Away".New York Times Magazine.Archivedfrom the original on December 11, 2008.RetrievedOctober 14,2008.
  6. ^Dubner, Stephen J.(March 21, 2005)."The Vindication of Former New York Times Executive Editor Joe Lelyveld".New York.Archivedfrom the original on October 15, 2012.RetrievedOctober 14,2008.
  7. ^"Pulitzer Prize Winners: General Non-Fiction"(web).pulitzer.org.Archivedfrom the original on February 24, 2008.RetrievedMarch 8,2008.
  8. ^"Indian state bans Gandhi book after reviews hint at gay relationship".The Guardian.London. March 30, 2011.Archivedfrom the original on January 18, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 17,2017.
  9. ^"India state bans book hinting Gandhi had gay lover".San Diego Union-Tribune.Associated Press. March 30, 2011.Archivedfrom the original on February 22, 2023.RetrievedApril 4,2023.
  10. ^Writer, Edward D. MurphyStaff (August 20, 2021)."Press Herald names new city editor".Press Herald.Archivedfrom the original on February 11, 2022.RetrievedFebruary 11,2022.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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