David Halberstam was one
of America's most distinguished journalists and historians, a man whose
newspaper reporting and books helped define the era we live in. He
graduated from Harvard in 1955, took his first job on the smallest daily in
Mississippi, and then covered the early civil rights struggle for the Nashville
Tennessean. He joined The New York Times in 1960, went overseas
almost immediately, first to the Congo and then to Vietnam. His early
pessimistic dispatches from Vietnam won him the Pulitzer in 1964 at the age of
thirty. Many of his books, including The Best and the Brightest, The Powers That Be, The Reckoning, and The Fifties,
have been national bestsellers.
Over the years, he developed a pattern of alternating a book with a weighty
theme with one that might seem of slighter import but to which he nonetheless
applied his considerable reportorial muscles. He was a man who didnt have a
lazy bone in his body, said the writer Gay Talese, a close family friend.
Almost invariably, Mr. Halberstam wrote about sports in those alternate books.
They were his entertainments, his wife said. They were his way to take a
break.
He was born on April 10, 1934 in New York City. His father, Dr Charles A
Halberstam, was an Army surgeon; his mother, Blanche Levy Halberstam, a
schoolteacher.
After Vietnam and after winning his Pulitzer Prize, Mr. Halberstam was assigned
to the Times bureau in Warsaw. There, he met an actress, Elzbieta Czyzewska,
whom he married in 1965, but the marriage was short-lived. In 1979, he married
Jean Sandness, then a writer.
He died in a car crash south of San Francisco on April 23, 2007. The car
that he was a passenger in was hit broadside by another car and knocked into a
third vehicle. Mr Halberstam, who lived in Manhattan, was on his way to
interview Y.A. Tittle, the former New York Giants quarterback, for a book about
the 1958 championship game between the Giants and the Baltimore Colts.
He is survived by his wife and daughter, Julia, who both live in Manhattan.
This bio was last updated on 04/24/2007. We try to keep BookBrowse's biographies both up to date and accurate, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of it's a tough task. So, please help us - if the information about this author is out of date or inaccurate, and you know of a more complete source, please let us know. Authors and publishers: If you wish to make changes to a bio, send the complete biography as you would like it displayed so that we can replace the old with the new.
Become a Member and discover books that entertain, engage & enlighten.
The Lost Apothecary
by Sarah Penner
A forgotten history. A secret network of women. A legacy of poison and revenge. Welcome to The Lost Apothecary.
Reader ReviewsSmalltime
by Russell Shorto
Family secrets emerge as a best-selling author dives into the history of the mob in small-town America.
Reader ReviewsBand of Sisters
by Lauren Willig
"A crackling portrayal of everyday American heroines…A triumph."
— Fiona Davis
Visitors can view some of BookBrowse for free. Full access is for members only.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.