Milton Viorst (February 18, 1930 – December 9, 2022) was an American journalist who wrote and reported on the Middle East, writing in a series of publications, most notably ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

''. He wrote ten books over the course of his career.

Education

Viorst studied history at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

. In 1951, he was a

Fulbright scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

in France. He returned and attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, where he graduated in 1956 in journalism.

Career

From 1956 to 1993, Viorst often contributed in various ways to publications such as ''

'', ''

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

'', ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...

'', ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'', ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...

'', the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', and ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

''. In 1968, he signed the "

Writers and Editors War Tax Protest Tax resistance, the practice of refusing to pay taxes that are considered unjust, has probably existed ever since rulers began imposing taxes on their subjects. It has been suggested that tax resistance played a significant role in the collapse o ...

" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. His writing landed him on the

master list of Nixon political opponents The master list of Nixon's political opponents was a secret list compiled by US President Richard Nixon's Presidential Counselor Charles Colson. It was an expansion of the original Nixon's Enemies List of 20 key people considered opponents of ...

. Milton Viorst won an

Alicia Patterson Journalism Fellowship The Alicia Patterson Foundation (APF) program was established in 1965 in memory of Alicia Patterson, who was the editor and publisher of ''Newsday'' for nearly 23 years before her death in 1963. Fellowship The Foundation provides competitive, one- ...

in 1979 to research and write about

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

and Islamic ideas and the Mideast crisis. In the early 1980s, he grew interested in

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

ern policy and became a specialist in this field. He is the author of six books on the subject, including ''In the Shadow of The Prophet''. On October 5, 1988, Viorst wrote an op-ed in ''The Washington Post'' erroneously dispersing doubt over whether

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

's regime had used chemical weapons in a genocide of Iraq's Kurdish population. Despite confirmation from Secretary of State

George Shultz George Pratt Shultz ( ; December 13, 1920February 6, 2021) was an American economist, businessman, diplomat and statesman. He served in various positions under two different Republican presidents and is one of the only two persons to have held f ...

, a month earlier, that poison gas had been employed to kill thousands of civilians, including children, Viorst maintained that it "may never have taken place" and argued for Congress not to pass the Prevention of Genocide Act, which later failed. The campaign of extermination against the Kurds made for up to 100,000 casualties. Viorst was criticized for his misleading article in ''

A Problem from Hell ''"A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide'' (2002) is a book by American Samantha Power, at that time Professor of Human Rights Practice at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, which explores the United States's understa ...

''. In April 2016, Viorst published ''Zionism: The Birth and Transformation of an Ideal'' with

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building (New York City), Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishe ...

Personal life

Viorst was married to the children's author

Judith Viorst Judith Viorst ( ; ;Aarons, Leroy ''People (magazine)'', February 18, 1980 Vol. 13 No. 7. Accessed August 4, 2016. "Born in Maplewood, N.J., the daughter of an accountant and a mother 'who was a reader and a bridge player,' Judith Stahl started w ...

, known for ''

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are A ...

''. They had three sons. He had earlier been briefly married to novelist

Marion Meade Marion Meade (born Marion Lolita Sidhu; January 7, 1934 – December 29, 2022) was an American biographer and novelist. She was best known for her portraits of writers and filmmakers.''Who's Who of American Women 2008–2009'' Biography Born in ...

. He died from complications of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

at a Washington, D.C., hospital on December 9, 2022, at the age of 92. He is survived by his wife, Judith; their three sons, Anthony, Nicholas, and Alexander; and their seven grandchildren.

References

External links

Milton Viorst biography
via

Alliance Française USA An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

Milton Viorst on ‘The Israel Lobby’
* 1930 births 2022 deaths Rutgers University alumni Harvard University alumni Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni American male journalists American tax resisters Writers from Paterson, New Jersey 20th-century American journalists Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C. {{US-journalist-1930s-stub