Michael Stern (journalist)
Encyclopedia
Michael Stern was an American
reporter, author
and philanthropist
. As a reporter during World War II
he issued some of the first accounts from a liberated Rome
, Italy
in June 1944. He later worked in concert with Zachary Fisher
to create the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum
in New York City
, New York
, United States
.
borough
of New York City and attended Fort Hamilton High School
there. He majored in journalism at Syracuse University
, Syracuse
, New York, leaving school just before his graduation.
in New York City but left for a better position at the Middletown Times-Herald (now the Times Herald-Record
), Middletown
, New York. During the early 1930s, Stern worked on a part-time basis in the office of the Kings County
, New York, District Attorney
where his investigation led to the conviction of those behind a prostitution ring; it became the basis for his 1936 book, The White Ticket: Commercialized Vice in the Machine Age.
He was hired by Bernarr Macfadden
in 1933 at the rate of 3.5 cents per word as an investigative reporter for Macfadden's pulp magazine
s, such as True Detective Mysteries
. Stern wrote under pseudonym
s for other similar publications, earning at times half of Macfadden's rate per word.
Stern worked for True
magazine under an assumed name where he wrote a series of articles about former Nazi Party official Otto Strasser
, who formed the anti-Nazi Black Front
and left Germany
to escape Adolf Hitler
. These articles were later published in book form as Flight From Terror, which he wrote together with Strasser. He was granted a bachelor's degree from Syracuse University based on the book.
His interviews with the crew of the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber Memphis Belle
were the basis for his book Into the Jaws of Death.
and Fawcett Publications
, publisher of True. He followed Allied forces to Algeria
as part of Operation Torch
, and accompanied the Allied troops
during their invasion of Sicily
and their subsequent invasion of mainland Italy
. Together with Fred Rosen, Stern entered Rome on June 3, 1944, one day before the American forces, under General Mark Wayne Clark
, took control of the city from the retreating German Army.
He stayed in Rome for the next 50 years, reporting on Sicilian
mobster Lucky Luciano
and other colorful characters from that period. These profiles were collected for his 1953 book No Innocence Abroad, which included details of the Holohan Murder Case
, in which an American OSS
agent in Italy behind enemy lines was killed in 1944 by his own men. After former Lt. Aldo Icardi was charged with perjury in August 1955 based on his testimony to a Congressional
subcommittee about the circumstances of Holahan's death, The New York Times
credited Stern's investigations, in addition to efforts by Holahan's brother and those of U.S. and Italian authorities, in having the case pursued.
Robert Ruark
wrote the foreword for Stern's 1964 book, An American in Rome, describing Stern as "a legend in modern Rome" who is "a tough boy, and... writes tough prose".
and starring Elke Sommer
and Ugo Tognazzi
; The 1967 film L'Avventuriero (also released as The Rover), directed by Terence Young, starred Rita Hayworth
and Anthony Quinn
; Tognazzi also starred in the 1968 version of Satyricon, directed by Gian Luigi Polidoro
. His 1988 film Run for Your Life starred Lauren Hutton
and George Segal
.
. Together, they established the Intrepid Museum Foundation in 1978 to raise the funds needed to establish the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, on the Hudson River
in the Manhattan
borough of New York City which opened in 1982.
The two also collaborated on the creation of the Fisher House program to create lodging for families of those military personnel who have been in medical-care facilities and the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation at Rockefeller University
, New York City.
He created the Michael Stern Parkinson's Research Foundation in 2001.
A resident of Lake Worth
, Florida
, Stern died at age 98 on April 7, 2009, in Palm Beach
, Florida, due to pancreatic cancer
. He was survived by a son, a daughter and a granddaughter.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
reporter, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
. As a reporter during World War II
World 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...
he issued some of the first accounts from a liberated Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in June 1944. He later worked in concert with Zachary Fisher
Zachary Fisher
Zachary Fisher was a prominent Jewish American philanthropist in the New York real estate community and a major philanthropic benefactor for the men and women in the United States Armed Forces and their families, as well as numerous other not-for-profit organizations.He founded the Fisher House...
to create the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum
Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum
The Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum is a military and maritime history museum with a collection of museum ships in New York City. It is located at Pier 86 at 46th Street on the West Side of Manhattan. The museum showcases the World War II aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, the submarine , a Concorde...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Early life
Stern was born on August 3, 1910, at a farm in the BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of New York City and attended Fort Hamilton High School
Fort Hamilton High School
Fort Hamilton High School is a public high school in Brooklyn, New York, USA, under the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Education. Students in Bay Ridge, Sunset Park and Dyker Heights are zoned to Fort Hamilton HS. It has stood overlooking the Narrows and Lower New York Bay since...
there. He majored in journalism at Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
, Syracuse
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
, New York, leaving school just before his graduation.
Journalism
After leaving college, he took a job at The New York JournalNew York Journal American
The New York Journal American was a newspaper published from 1937 to 1966. The Journal American was the product of a merger between two New York newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst: The New York American , a morning paper, and the New York Evening Journal, an afternoon paper...
in New York City but left for a better position at the Middletown Times-Herald (now the Times Herald-Record
Times Herald-Record
The Times Herald-Record, often referred to as The Record or Middletown Record in its coverage area, is a daily newspaper published in Middletown, New York, covering the northwest suburbs of New York City. It covers Orange, Sullivan and Ulster counties in New York; Pike County in Pennsylvania; and...
), Middletown
Middletown, Orange County, New York
Middletown is a city in Orange County, New York, United States. It lies in New York's Hudson Valley region, near the Wallkill River and the foothills of the Shawangunk Mountains. Middletown is situated between Port Jervis and Newburgh, New York. The city's population was 25,388 at the 2000 census...
, New York. During the early 1930s, Stern worked on a part-time basis in the office of the Kings County
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York, District Attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
where his investigation led to the conviction of those behind a prostitution ring; it became the basis for his 1936 book, The White Ticket: Commercialized Vice in the Machine Age.
He was hired by Bernarr Macfadden
Bernarr Macfadden
Bernarr Macfadden was an influential American proponent of physical culture, a combination of bodybuilding with nutritional and health theories...
in 1933 at the rate of 3.5 cents per word as an investigative reporter for Macfadden's pulp magazine
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
s, such as True Detective Mysteries
True Detective
True Detective has been the name of several different magazines.The first was an American true crime magazine featuring articles about crime and criminals, created by publisher Bernarr Macfadden in 1924; it's considered the first true crime magazine. Although generally lurid, True Detective did...
. Stern wrote under pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
s for other similar publications, earning at times half of Macfadden's rate per word.
Stern worked for True
True (magazine)
True, also known as True, The Man's Magazine, was published by Fawcett Publications from 1937 until 1974. Known as True, A Man's Magazine in the 1930s, it was labeled True, #1 Man's Magazine in the 1960s. Petersen Publishing took over with the January 1975, issue...
magazine under an assumed name where he wrote a series of articles about former Nazi Party official Otto Strasser
Otto Strasser
Otto Johann Maximilian Strasser was a German politician and 'left-wing' member of the National Socialist German Workers Party. Strasser was part of the ‘left-wing’ faction of the party, along with his brother Gregor Strasser, and broke from the party due to disputes with the ‘Hitlerite’ faction...
, who formed the anti-Nazi Black Front
Black Front
The Black Front was a group formed by Otto Strasser after his expulsion from the Nazi Party in 1930. Strasser believed the original anti-capitalist nature of the NSDAP had been betrayed by Adolf Hitler...
and left Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to escape Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. These articles were later published in book form as Flight From Terror, which he wrote together with Strasser. He was granted a bachelor's degree from Syracuse University based on the book.
His interviews with the crew of the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber Memphis Belle
Memphis Belle (B-17)
Memphis Belle is the nickname of a Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress during the Second World War that inspired the making of two motion pictures: a 1944 documentary film, Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress, and a 1990 Hollywood feature film, Memphis Belle...
were the basis for his book Into the Jaws of Death.
World War II and Rome
With the U.S. Army during World War II, he was a war correspondent starting in 1943 for the North American Newspaper AllianceNorth American Newspaper Alliance
The North American Newspaper Alliance was a large newspaper syndicate that flourished between 1922 and 1980.Founded by John Neville Wheeler, NANA employed some of the most noted writing talents of its time, including Grantland Rice, Joseph Alsop, Michael Stern, Lothrop Stoddard, Dorothy Thompson,...
and Fawcett Publications
Fawcett Publications
Fawcett Publications was an American publishing company founded in 1919 in Robbinsdale, Minnesota by Wilford Hamilton "Captain Billy" Fawcett . At the age of 16, Fawcett ran away from home to join the Army, and the Spanish-American War took him to the Philippines. Back in Minnesota, he became a...
, publisher of True. He followed Allied forces to Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
as part of Operation Torch
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....
, and accompanied the Allied troops
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
during their invasion of Sicily
Allied invasion of Sicily
The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis . It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.Husky began on the night of...
and their subsequent invasion of mainland Italy
Allied invasion of Italy
The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied landing on mainland Italy on September 3, 1943, by General Harold Alexander's 15th Army Group during the Second World War. The operation followed the successful invasion of Sicily during the Italian Campaign...
. Together with Fred Rosen, Stern entered Rome on June 3, 1944, one day before the American forces, under General Mark Wayne Clark
Mark Wayne Clark
Mark Wayne Clark was an American general during World War II and the Korean War and was the youngest lieutenant general in the U.S. Army...
, took control of the city from the retreating German Army.
He stayed in Rome for the next 50 years, reporting on Sicilian
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,...
mobster Lucky Luciano
Lucky Luciano
Charlie "Lucky" Luciano was an Italian mobster born in Sicily. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for splitting New York City into five different Mafia crime families and the establishment of the first commission...
and other colorful characters from that period. These profiles were collected for his 1953 book No Innocence Abroad, which included details of the Holohan Murder Case
The Holohan Murder Case
The Holohan Murder Case concerned the death of OSS Major William Holohan in Italy during the Second World War.In September 1944, the U.S. Army's Office of Strategic Services dispatched teams of specially-trained soldiers into enemy-occupied territory to organize resistance movements. In Europe,...
, in which an American OSS
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
agent in Italy behind enemy lines was killed in 1944 by his own men. After former Lt. Aldo Icardi was charged with perjury in August 1955 based on his testimony to a Congressional
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
subcommittee about the circumstances of Holahan's death, 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...
credited Stern's investigations, in addition to efforts by Holahan's brother and those of U.S. and Italian authorities, in having the case pursued.
Robert Ruark
Robert Ruark
Robert Ruark was an American author and syndicated columnist.- Early life :...
wrote the foreword for Stern's 1964 book, An American in Rome, describing Stern as "a legend in modern Rome" who is "a tough boy, and... writes tough prose".
Filmmaker
Stern entered film production while in Rome. His first film was the 1960 movie Femmine di lusso (released in the United States as Love, the Italian Way), directed by Giorgio BianchiGiorgio Bianchi
Giorgio Bianchi was an Italian film director and actor.-Selected filmography:* Two Happy Hearts * Vent'anni * Hearts at Sea * L'immorale -External links:...
and starring Elke Sommer
Elke Sommer
Elke Sommer , born Baroness Elke Schletz, is a German actress, entertainer and artist.-Career:Sommer was born in Berlin to a Lutheran minister and his wife...
and Ugo Tognazzi
Ugo Tognazzi
Ugo Tognazzi was an Italian film, TV, and theatre actor, director, and screenwriter.-Early life:Tognazzi was born in Cremona, in northern Italy but spent his youth in various localities as his father was a traveller clerk for an insurance company.After his return in the native city in 1936, he...
; The 1967 film L'Avventuriero (also released as The Rover), directed by Terence Young, starred Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...
and Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Antonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca , more commonly known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican American actor, as well as a painter and writer...
; Tognazzi also starred in the 1968 version of Satyricon, directed by Gian Luigi Polidoro
Gian Luigi Polidoro
Gian Luigi Polidoro was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed 15 films between 1958 and 1998...
. His 1988 film Run for Your Life starred Lauren Hutton
Lauren Hutton
Lauren Hutton is an American model and actress. She is best-known for her starring roles in the movies American Gigolo and Lassiter, and also for her fashion modeling career.-Personal life:...
and George Segal
George Segal
George Segal is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:George Segal, Jr. was born in 1934 Great Neck, Long Island, New York, the son of Fannie Blanche and George Segal, Sr. He was educated at George School, a private Quaker preparatory boarding school near Newtown, Bucks County,...
.
Philanthropy
During his travels to the U.S., Stern developed a friendship with builder and philanthropist Zachary FisherZachary Fisher
Zachary Fisher was a prominent Jewish American philanthropist in the New York real estate community and a major philanthropic benefactor for the men and women in the United States Armed Forces and their families, as well as numerous other not-for-profit organizations.He founded the Fisher House...
. Together, they established the Intrepid Museum Foundation in 1978 to raise the funds needed to establish the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, on the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
in the Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
borough of New York City which opened in 1982.
The two also collaborated on the creation of the Fisher House program to create lodging for families of those military personnel who have been in medical-care facilities and the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation at Rockefeller University
Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University is a private university offering postgraduate and postdoctoral education. It has a strong concentration in the biological sciences. It is also known for producing numerous Nobel laureates...
, New York City.
He created the Michael Stern Parkinson's Research Foundation in 2001.
Personal
He married Estelle Goldstein in 1934; she died in 1995.A resident of Lake Worth
Lake Worth, Florida
Lake Worth is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, which takes its name from the body of water along its eastern border, originally called "Lake Worth", and now generally known as the Lake Worth Lagoon. The lake itself was named for General William J. Worth, who led U.S. forces during the last...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, Stern died at age 98 on April 7, 2009, in Palm Beach
Palm Beach, Florida
The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...
, Florida, due to pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
. He was survived by a son, a daughter and a granddaughter.