John Paul Wallach, (January 18, 1943 – July 10, 2002) born in New York City, was an American journalist, and author. He served as foreign editor and diplomatic correspondent for ''Hearst newspapers'' for nearly 30-years, traveling to more than 70 countries with five different Presidents,

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

, and

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

. After the

1993 World Trade Center bombing The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a terrorist attack carried out by Ramzi Yousef and associates against the United States on February 26, 1993, when a van bomb detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center complex in Manhat ...

, Wallach founded

Seeds of Peace Seeds of Peace is a peacebuilding and leadership development non-profit organization headquartered in New York City. It was founded in 1993. As its main program, the organization brings youth and educators from areas of conflict to its summer ca ...

, an international summer camp that brings children together from all over the world who are dealing with war and conflict. After the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, Wallach hosted a five-day conference that brought visitors and representatives from all over the world to support the prevention of terrorism. Wallach was the son of German Jews, Paul and Edith Wallach, who escaped

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

in 1941, after the government took possession of their family's clothing factory. Wallach died of lung cancer in New York City; he was survived by his wife, Janet, and two sons.

Background and education

Wallach was the son of German Jews, Paul and Edith Wallach, who escaped

in 1941, after the government took possession of their family's clothing factory. Wallach attended

Scarsdale High School Scarsdale High School (SHS) is a four-year public high school in Scarsdale, New York, United States, a coterminous town and village in Westchester County, New York. It is a part of the Scarsdale Union Free School District. The school was founde ...

, in New York, graduating in 1960. He graduated in 1964 from

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

. While in school, Wallach started his own radio show. He also enrolled in theatre studies at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

but only attended the school for a term. He obtained his master's degree from the

New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR), previously known as The University in Exile and The New School University, is a graduate-level educational division of The New School in New York City, United States. NSSR enrolls more than 1,000 stud ...

Manhattan, New York Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Wallach was awarded a teaching fellowship by the Woodrow Wilson National Foundation in 1984, and was a senior fellow at the United States Institute of Peace in 1998. He received an honorary doctorate from Middlebury in 1999 and an honorary doctorate from the

University of Southern Maine The University of Southern Maine (USM) is a public university with campuses in Gorham and Portland, Maine, United States. It is the southernmost university in the University of Maine System. It was founded as two separate state universities, Go ...

Career

Wallach served as foreign editor and diplomatic correspondent for ''Hearst Newspapers'', joining the Washington office in 1968; he served with the organization until 1995. During his career, Wallach traveled to more than 70 countries with five different Presidents, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan. He made multiple appearances on NBC's "

Meet the Press ''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television Sunday morning talk show broadcast on NBC. It is the List of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running program on American television, though its format has changed since th ...

" and "

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

." In 1972, Wallach was elected as president of the State Department Correspondents Association, representing over 400 correspondents in 30 countries. He was the first Visiting Affairs Correspondent for the ''

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

'' in 1980. In 1984, Wallach, as a fellow with the

Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation The Institute for Citizens & Scholars (formerly known as the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation) is a nonpartisan, non-profit institution based in Princeton, New Jersey that says it aims to strengthen American democracy by "cultivating ...

, taught a course for

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

, titled, "Foreign Policy Processes and the Press." The course aired on

WAMU-FM WAMU (88.5 FM) is a Public broadcasting, public All-news radio, news–talk radio, talk station that services the greater Washington metropolitan area, Washington, DC metropolitan area. It is owned by American University, and its studios are lo ...

, for 12-weeks. After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Wallach founded Seeds of Peace, a summer camp that brings children from opposite sides of conflict from around the world together. The first camp, opened in

Otisfield, Maine Otisfield is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. Otisfield is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. The population was 1,853 at the 2020 census. Otisfield is a summer recreation area and ...

, enrolled 46 teenagers.

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

, in support of the organization, invited all 46 of the teens to the White House signing of the Israeli-PLO peace accords, finalized on September 14, 1993. In a 1995 interview, Wallach responding to questions about the success of the Seeds of Peace camp said: In 1995, Wallach retired from ''Hearst'', in order to work full-time with Seeds of Peace. In 1999, a Seeds affiliate was opened in Jerusalem. In 2001, two months after the September 11th terrorist attacks, Wallach and Seeds of Peace hosted a conference for five days in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. There were approximately 150 visitors and representatives from all over the world. The conference was to prevent terrorism. As a result of the conference, a charter was presented to the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, with recommendations on how to prevent terrorism. Later that same year, Wallach gave a special address to a joint session of the

Maine Legislature The Maine State Legislature is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral body composed of the lower house Maine House of Representatives and the upper house Maine Senate. ...

about the Seeds of Peace camp and how the lives of the teenagers changed as a result of the program. In 2002, Wallach died of lung cancer in New York City; he was survived by his wife, Janet, and two sons.

Awards and recognition

Wallach was the recipient of multiple awards during his life, in recognition of his success as a journalist and humanitarian efforts. A selection of his awards is listed below. * 1978 The Congressional Correspondents Award for his coverage of the

Camp David Accords The Camp David Accords were a pair of political agreements signed by Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin on 17 September 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David, the country retre ...

. The award was presented by President Jimmy Carter. *1985

Overseas Press Club Award The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain an ...

for his series of radio programs based on his course on "foreign policy and the press." * 1988 The Weintal Prize for Diplomatic Reporting (special citation). The award was presented by the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Georgetown University. * 1991 The Soviet Medal of Friendship, from

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

President Mikail Gorbachev . The award is the highest civilian award. * 1994 Washingtonian of the Year, '' Washingtonian'' magazine. * 1997 The Jordanian Legion of Honor Medal, on behalf of the late His Majesty King Hussein of Jordan. *1998 and 2000

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

(UNESCO) Peace Prize *2002 International Advocate for Peace Award by the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. *2002 International First Freedom Award by the Council for America's First Freedom. *2005 Wallach was posthumously named as a Distinguished Alumni of Scarsdale High School. Wallach was also the recipient of the Edwin Hood Award for his foreign policy reporting in breaking the Iran-Contra story, three other Overseas Press Club awards, the

B'nai Brith B'nai B'rith International ( ; from ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit Jewish service organization and was formerly a cultural association for German Jewish immigrants to the United States. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the sec ...

for exposing the plight of Soviet dissidents, and the 1978 Raymond Clapper Award for outstanding journalism (Second Place), given by the

White House Correspondents' Association The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) is an organization of journalists who cover the White House and the president of the United States. The WHCA was founded on February 25, 1914, by journalists in response to an unfounded rumor ...

Bibliography

A selection of Wallach's works is listed below. Middlebury College maintains a collection of his works, including video, audio, book drafts, articles and newswires. *''Still small voices'', co-author with wife, Janet Wallach, Citadel Press, 1990. *''The new Palestinians: the emerging generation of leaders'', co-author with wife, Janet Wallach, Prima Publishing, 1994. *''Arafat: in the eyes of the beholder'', co-author with wife, Janet Wallach, Carol Publishing Group, 1997. *''The enemy has a face: the Seeds of Peace experience'', co-author with son, Michael Wallach, United States Institute of Peace Press, 2000.

References

External links

John and Janet Wallach Papers
at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library,

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

Seeds of Peace biography of John Wallach

Seeds of Peace Camp founder dies
CNN.com, 11 July 2002 * *
''Booknotes'' interview with John and Janet Wallach on ''Arafat: In the Eyes of the Beholder'', December 23, 1990.
* by

Leon Charney Leon Charney (July 23, 1938 – March 21, 2016) was an American real estate tycoon, attorney, author, philanthropist, political pundit, media personality and Jewish cantor. He lived in Manhattan in New York City, dividing his time between his re ...