Herbert Mitgang
Encyclopedia
Herbert Mitgang is an author, editor, journalist, playwright, and producer of television news documentaries.
Mitgang served as an army correspondent and became the managing editor of the
Oran
-Casablanca
and Sicily
editions of Stars and Stripes
. After the war he joined The New York Times
as a copy editor and reviewer. From 1955–62 he served as supervising editor of the drama section of the Sunday edition of the Times. He was an editorial writer and member of the Times editorial board in 1963–1964 and again in 1967–1976. From 1964 to 1967 Mitgang was assistant to the president and executive editor of CBS News
and produced CBS Reports documentaries including "Sandburg's Prairie Years," "Anthony Eden on Vietnam" and "D-Day Plus 20 Years." He also instructed evening classes in English at City College of New York
in 1948–1949 and was a visiting professor at Yale University
in 1975-1976. From 1948 to 1949 he was a member of the executive board of the Newspaper Guild of New York
and the CIO
. He has been a longtime member and has served as president of both the Authors League and the Authors Guild. He is a Fellow of the Society of American Historians and a member of the Dramatists Guild of America
. Mitgang has contributed freelance articles to magazines, written several novels and biographies and edited several books. His papers are in the collection of the New York Public Library
.
As an octogenarian, Herbert Mitgang was one of the named plaintiffs in the controversial case "Authors Guild vs. Google" (2005), the purpose of which was to prevent Google from providing a complete searchable index of extant literature.
Work
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Mitgang served as an army correspondent and became the managing editor of the
Oran
Oran
Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...
-Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
and Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
editions of Stars and Stripes
Stars and Stripes (newspaper)
Stars and Stripes is a news source that operates from inside the United States Department of Defense but is editorially separate from it. The First Amendment protection which Stars and Stripes enjoys is safeguarded by Congress to whom an independent ombudsman, who serves the readers' interests,...
. After the war he joined The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
as a copy editor and reviewer. From 1955–62 he served as supervising editor of the drama section of the Sunday edition of the Times. He was an editorial writer and member of the Times editorial board in 1963–1964 and again in 1967–1976. From 1964 to 1967 Mitgang was assistant to the president and executive editor of CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
and produced CBS Reports documentaries including "Sandburg's Prairie Years," "Anthony Eden on Vietnam" and "D-Day Plus 20 Years." He also instructed evening classes in English at City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
in 1948–1949 and was a visiting professor at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1975-1976. From 1948 to 1949 he was a member of the executive board of the Newspaper Guild of New York
Newspaper Guild
The Newspaper Guild-CWA is a labor union founded by newspaper journalists in 1933 who noticed that unionized printers and truck drivers were making more money than they did...
and the CIO
Congress of Industrial Organizations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations, or CIO, proposed by John L. Lewis in 1932, was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 required union leaders to swear that they were not...
. He has been a longtime member and has served as president of both the Authors League and the Authors Guild. He is a Fellow of the Society of American Historians and a member of the Dramatists Guild of America
Dramatists Guild of America
The Dramatists Guild of America is a professional organization for playwrights, composers, and lyricists working in the U.S. theatre market.Membership as an Associate Member is open to any person having written at least one stage play. Active Members are playwrights who have had at least one play...
. Mitgang has contributed freelance articles to magazines, written several novels and biographies and edited several books. His papers are in the collection of the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
.
As an octogenarian, Herbert Mitgang was one of the named plaintiffs in the controversial case "Authors Guild vs. Google" (2005), the purpose of which was to prevent Google from providing a complete searchable index of extant literature.
Books
- Lincoln: As They Saw Him (1956) ASIN B000RQENP0
- Civilians Under Arms: The American Soldier - Civil War to Korea - As He Revealed Himself In His Words In the Stars and Stripes, Army Newspaper (Ed.) (1959) ASIN B000R0HKS8
- The Return (1960) ASIN B000KBJCFI
- The Letters of Carl Sandburg. (Ed.) (1968) ASIN B0016KMQ0K
- America at Random (1970) ASIN B000SATTOK
- The Man Who Rode The Tiger The Life And Times of Judge Samuel Seabury (1970) ASIN B000PV42I0
- Working for the Reader: Culture, Literature, War and Politics in Books from the 1950s to the Present (1970) ISBN 978-0818011559
- Get These Men Out of the Hot Sun (1972)
- The Fiery Trial - a Life of Lincoln (1974) ASIN B000HKOFYA
- Lincoln, As They Saw Him: His Life and Times from the Original Newspaper Documents of the Union, the Confederacy, and Europe (1979) ISBN 978-0374958015
- The Montauk Fault. A Novel. (1982) ISBN 978-0345303783
- Combat World War II: European (European Theater of Operations) (1983) ISBN 978-0877954576
- Spectator of America, with Edward Dicey (1989) ISBN 978-0820311722
- Dangerous Dossiers: Exposing the Secret War Against America's Greatest Authors (1991) ISBN 978-0517074749
- Selected Writings of Abraham Lincoln (1992) ISBN 978-0553214079
- The Letters of Carl Sandburg (Ed.) (2002) ISBN 978-0762822553
- Once Upon a Time in New York: Jimmy Walker, Franklin Roosevelt,and the Last Great Battle of the Jazz Age (2004) ISBN 978-0815412632
- Newsmen in Khaki: Tales of a World War II Soldier-Correspondent (2004) ISBN 978-1589790940
External links
- Audio interview with Herbert Mitgang (1988)
- Israeli Mosaics (The Atlantic Monthly, August 1966)
- Victory in the Ashes of Vietnam? (The New York Times, February 4, 1969)
- Books of The Times; Americans as America's Own Worst Enemy (The New York Times, January 2, 1992)