Alfred Friendly (December 30, 1911 – November 7, 1983) was an American

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, editor and

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for ''

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''. He began his career as a reporter with the ''Post'' in 1939 and became Managing Editor in 1955. In 1967 he covered the Mideast War for the ''Post'' in a series of articles for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1968. He is credited with bringing the ''Post'' from being a local paper to having a position of national prominence.

Background

Alfred Friendly was born on December 30, 1911, in

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. In 1933, he graduated from Amherst College. His parents were Edward Rosenbaum and Harriet Friendly.

Career

In 1933, Friendly came to Washington, DC, to look for work. A former professor who worked in the Commerce Department hired him, but his appointment to a high position at such a young age earned him criticism in the press and he resigned. For the next year he traveled the country in the middle of the Depression, eventually returning to become a reporter at ''

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'', writing a column for government employees. Less than two years later he was hired to write the same kind of column for the ''Post'', where he was soon assigned to cover war mobilization efforts and anti-war strikes. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

broke out he entered the Army Air Force, rising to the rank of major before leaving in 1945. While in the military he was involved in cryptography and intelligence operations, finally becoming the second in command at

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, and the highest ranking American officer there. After the war he remained in Europe as press aide to W. Averell Harriman, supervisor of the Marshall Plan. A year later he returned to Washington and to the ''Post'', where he became assistant managing editor in 1952 and managing editor in 1955. In 1966 he became an associate editor and a foreign correspondent based out of London. Hearing rumors of war in 1967 he headed to the Middle East where he was present throughout the 1967 War and wrote his series of award-winning articles. He retired from the ''Post'' in 1971, though he continued writing occasional editorials and

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Personal life and death

Friendly married Jean; they had five children. In 1983, at age 71, Friendly, who had developed both lung and throat cancer, committed suicide by shooting himself.

Awards

* 1958: Honorary Doctorate, Amherst College * 1968: Pulitzer Prize

Legacy

After his death, the Alfred Friendly Foundation was established. It administers the Alfred Friendly Press Partners to bring foreign journalists to the United States for internships at prominent news organizations. The Archives and Special Collections at Amherst College holds a collection of his papers.

Works

During his retirement, Friendly wrote several books: *''Crime and Publicity'' (1967) *''Beaufort of the Admiralty'' (1977) *''The Dreadful Day: The Battle of Manzikert, 1071'' (1982) Articles:
"McCarthyism Revisited"

References

External links

Alfred Friendly Papers, Amherst College Archives and Special CollectionsAlfred Friendly Foundation, Press Fellowships
{{DEFAULTSORT:Friendly, Alfred The Washington Post people Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting winners American male journalists 20th-century American journalists Amherst College alumni 1911 births 1983 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 1983 suicides