Donald H. Forst (July 3, 1932 – January 4, 2014) was an American newspaper editor who worked for a variety of newspapers, mostly in New York, and headed ''

New York Newsday ''New York Newsday'' was an American daily newspaper that primarily served New York City and was sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The paper, established in 1985, was a New York City-specific offshoot of ''Newsday'', a Long Island- ...

'', ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'', and ''

The Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarde ...

''.

Early life and education

Forst was born in Crown HeightsJoan Gralla
"Donald Forst dead, former New York Newsday and Village Voice editor was 81"
''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...

'', January 4, 2014, updated January 5, 2014. and raised in Brooklyn, where his father was a lawyer. He was educated at the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

, where he started in journalism working on the college newspaper—he said in an interview because there was an attractive girl at the sign-up table. He earned a Master's degree in journalism from

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 ...

.James Barron
"Donald H. Forst, Feisty Newspaper Editor, Dies at 81"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', January 4, 2014, updated January 8, 2014. According to

Wayne Barrett Wayne Barrett (July 11, 1945 – January 19, 2017) was an American journalist. He worked as an investigative reporter and senior editor for ''The Village Voice'' for 37 years, and was known as a leading investigative journalist focused on ...

of ''The Village Voice'', he had originally wanted to play professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, only his mother sent away the scouts the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

sent to the house and forbade them to contact her son again.Larry McShane
"Don Forst, veteran New York journalist, dies at 81 following a 50-year career"
''

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

'', January 4, 2014.

Career

Beginning in the mid-1950s, Forst worked at fourteen periodicals in total, including the ''

Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown Houston, Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely ...

'', the Newark ''Star-Ledger'', ''

The Burlington Free Press ''The Burlington Free Press'' (sometimes referred to as "BFP" or "the Free Press") is a digital and print community news organization based in Burlington, Vermont, and owned by Gannett. It is one of the official "newspapers of record" for the St ...

'', and ''Boston'' magazine. He was assistant city editor and financial editor of 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. ...

'' and was editor-in-chief of the ''Boston Herald'' when the paper almost folded and was saved by being purchased by

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...

in 1982. He was credited there with "turning a sleepy broadsheet into lively tabloid". Gary J. Remal and Andrew Blom
"Donald Forst, former editor of Boston Herald, dies at 81"
''

'', January 5, 2014. After working at ''

The New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

'' until it was merged into ''The New York World Journal Tribune'' in 1966, he was cultural editor of ''

'' for a number of years."Veteran newsman, teacher Donald Forst: UAlbany journalism professor was an editor at Village Voice, Newsday"
'' Times-Union'', January 4, 2014. He joined ''

'' in 1971 as national editor and became managing editor, overseeing the investigative series on

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

trafficking that won a

Pulitzer Prize for Public Service The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or news site through the use of its journali ...

reporting in 1974. In 1977 he was hired to head the ''

Los Angeles Herald-Examiner The ''Los Angeles Herald Examiner'' was a major Los Angeles daily newspaper, published in the afternoon from Monday to Friday and in the morning on Saturdays and Sundays. It was part of the Hearst syndicate. It was formed when the afternoon ' ...

'', but he returned to New York in 1985 to head the newly created ''New York Newsday'', which won two Pulitzers during his tenure, for spot news coverage of the 1991 Union Square derailment and for Jim Dwyer's commentary. After its closure in July 1995—reportedly the day after Forst met the CEO of Times-Mirror, Newsday's parent company, for the first time—he worked for a brief time for the

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

edition of ''Newsday'', then in February 1996 became chief metropolitan editor at the ''

''. He left that position by midsummer, and that fall unexpectedly became editor-in-chief at ''The Village Voice''. At the time, the ''New York Times'' called him "the oddest choice", characterizing him as "the former bad-boy editor of New York Newsday who led that paper to two Pulitzer Prizes but also reveled in front-page cheesecake photos of Marla Maples and Donna Rice",Elisabeth Bumiller
"New Editor Changes the Cadence of The Village Voice "
''The New York Times'', February 13, 1997. while he himself said that he took the job " cause it was insane. It's what Karl Wallenda said: 'Life is on the wire. All the rest is waiting.' "Anna Merlan
"Former Voice Editor Don Forst Dies; Joined This Paper to Work With Its 'Homosexuals' and 'Trotskyites'"
''Village Voice'' blogs, January 6, 2014. Although during his tenure there was controversy among other things over admitted insensitivity in a 1999 cover story about a

trans man A trans man or transgender man is a man who was assigned female at birth. Trans men have a male gender identity, and many trans men undergo medical and social transition to alter their appearance in a way that aligns with their gender identi ...

, during it ''The Village Voice'' won many awards, including in 2000 a Pulitzer for international reporting for Mark Schoofs' series on AIDS in Africa.

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

"Longtime journalist Donald Forst, former editor in chief at Boston Herald, dies at 81"
MassLive, January 4, 2014
"Former New York Newsday, Village Voice editor-in-chief Donald Forst dies at 81"

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

, January 5, 2014. Tony Marro, editor of ''Newsday'' from 1986 to 2002, remembered him as so competitive a newspaperman, he "wanted not only to beat the competition but to burn their houses, drive off their cattle and poison their wells" but also said that he "made working in newsrooms a lot of fun."

Retirement and personal life

After retiring from ''The Village Voice'' in 2005, Forst taught journalism at the University at Albany from 2007 until late in 2013. For the first year and a half he also continued to lay out a front page for himself every morning. He died in Albany from complications of

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

. Forst was married twice, from 1961 until the mid-1970s to the food writer

Gael Greene Gael Greene (December 22, 1933 – November 1, 2022) was an American restaurant critic, author, and novelist. She became '' New York'' magazine's restaurant critic in fall 1968, at a time when most New Yorkers were unsophisticated about food and ...

, whom he met at ''

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. ...

'', and secondly to the photographer and writer Starr Ockenga. At the time of his death his companion was Val Haynes.

Early life and education

Career

Retirement and personal life

References

Further reading