Edgar May (June 27, 1929 – December 27, 2012) was an American journalist and politician. He served in the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives a ...

1973–1983 and the

Vermont Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members elected from multi-member districts. Each senator repre ...

1983–1991 and he was the elder brother of three-term Vermont Governor Madeleine May Kunin.

Life and career

May was born in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Switzerland, and moved to the United States in 1940. He was raised in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, graduating from high school in Princeton, and then worked as a clerk at ''

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 ...

'' while studying at

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 ...

. During the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, May served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, assigned as a speechwriter for commanders and staff based at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. He graduated from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

with a degree in journalism in 1957. May worked as a reporter for the ''Bellows Falls Times'', ''Fitchburg Sentinel'', and ''Buffalo Evening News''. While at the '' Buffalo Evening News'' in 1960, he investigated the New York State welfare system, and won the annual

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

for Local Reporting, No Edition Time (a predecessor of the Investigative Reporting Prize), citing "his series of articles on New York State's public welfare services entitled, "Our Costly Dilemma", based in part on his three-month employment as a State case worker. The series brought about reforms that attracted nationwide attention." The series led to a book, ''The Wasted Americans: cost of our welfare dilemma'', published by

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins, based in New York City. Founded in New York in 1817 by James Harper and his brother John, the company operated as J. & J. Harper until 1833, when ...

in 1964. He worked in the Johnson administration, including assisting Sargent Shriver in operating the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

and as Deputy Director of the Domestic Peace Corps, which later became

Volunteers in Service to America AmeriCorps VISTA is a national service program designed to alleviate poverty. President of the United States, President John F. Kennedy originated the idea for VISTA, which was founded as Volunteers in Service to America in 1965, and incorporated ...

(VISTA). May was a consultant for the Ford Foundation from 1970 to 1975, and wrote for ''Corrections Magazine''. A Democrat, he served in the

from 1975 to 1983. He was a member of the

from 1983 to 1991, and was chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. From 1993 to 1996 May was Chief Operating Officer of the

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 172 countries. Special Ol ...

. In retirement May was active in several civic and municipal projects in his hometown,

Springfield, Vermont Springfield is a New England town, town in Windsor County, Vermont, Windsor County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 9,062. History The land currently recognized as Springfield is the ...

Death

May died on December 27, 2012, in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

, aged 83, from complications of a stroke he had suffered three weeks earlier.Regina Ford, Sahuarita Sun
"GV Resident, Vermont Icon Edgar May Dies"
December 28, 2012

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:May, Edgar 1929 births 2012 deaths American people of Swiss-Jewish descent American male journalists Jewish state legislators in Vermont 20th-century Swiss Jews Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting winners The Buffalo News Pulitzer Prize winners Lyndon B. Johnson administration personnel Democratic Party members of the Vermont House of Representatives Democratic Party Vermont state senators United States Army personnel of the Korean War Medill School of Journalism alumni Politicians from Zurich Politicians from Princeton, New Jersey Politicians from Chicago Politicians from Buffalo, New York Politicians from Windsor County, Vermont People from Pima County, Arizona 20th-century members of the Vermont General Assembly