James Barrett Reston Jr. (March 8, 1941 – July 19, 2023) was an American journalist, documentarian and author of political and

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

and non-fiction. He wrote about 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 ...

, the Jonestown Massacre, civil rights, the impeachment of Richard Nixon, and 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 ...

Early life

Reston was born in

Manhattan 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 ...

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 ...

. His father James "Scotty" Reston was an editor of the ''New York Times''. His mother, Sarah Jane "Sally" Fulton, was a journalist, photographer, writer, and publisher who joined her husband on foreign assignments in Europe and Asia during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. His maternal grandfather, William J. Fulton, served two terms as the Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court of Illinois The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the judiciary of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the ...

. Reston's family moved to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

when he was two years old. He attended the St. Albans School in Washington, D.C. He earned his B.A. in philosophy in 1963 at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

(UNC) while on a Morehead Scholarship. At UNC, he was an All-South soccer player and still retains the single-game scoring record for the university—five goals against

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

on October 18, 1962. He attended

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

during his junior year.

Career

Reston was an assistant to and speechwriter for

U.S. Secretary of the Interior The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natur ...

Stewart Udall Stewart Lee Udall (January 31, 1920 – March 20, 2010) was an American politician and later, a federal government official who belonged to the Democratic Party. After serving three terms as a congressman from Arizona, he served as Secretary ...

from 1964 to 1965. He was a reporter for the ''

Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty ...

'' from 1964 to 1965. From 1965 to 1968, he served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary 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 the United Stat ...

as an intelligence officer and sergeant. From 1971 to 1981, he was a lecturer in creative writing at the

. From 1976 to 1977, he was a fiction reviewer for the ''Chronicle of Higher Education.'' In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Reston wrote numerous pieces about amnesty for Vietnam deserters, people who had left the United States rather than serving in the war. This led to two books, both collection of essays, ''When Can I Come Home'', in 1972 and ''The Amnesty of John David Herndon'' in 1973. Reston said, "Now as a veteran against the war, I gravitated to the issue of amnesty for Vietnam war resisters, no doubt because emotionally I sympathized deeply with their plight and their decision in contrast to my own course." From 1976 to 1977, Reston was

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was an English television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in 1974, in August of that year. It revol ...

adviser for the historic Nixon interviews. Reston's book about the interviews, ''The Conviction of Richard Nixon, was'' the inspiration for

Peter Morgan Peter Julian Robin Morgan (born 10 April 1963) is a British screenwriter and playwright. He has written for theatre, films and television, often writing about historical events or figures such as Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II, whom he has ...

's 2006 play Frost/Nixon, in which the character Jim Reston is the narrator. It was made into a film in 2008, also called Frost/Nixon. Reston's articles appeared in '' American Heritage'', '' American Theatre'', ''

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'', ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'', ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'', ''

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 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 ...

'', '' Omni'', ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'', ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', '' Saturday Review'', ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', '' Vanity Fair'', and ''

Washington Post Magazine ''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 ...

''. His works of both fiction and non-fiction cover a wide range of historical and political topics. In 1985, Reston was the ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'',

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

, and

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 ...

candidate to be the first writer in space on the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

space shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

. That program was scrapped after the Challenger accident in January 1986. On May 23, 1994, ''Time'' magazine published his cover story on the impact of the Shoemaker Levy 9 comet into

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

. Reston wrote four plays which were all stage adaptations of his books —''Sherman the Peacemaker'' premiered at the

Playmakers Repertory Company PlayMakers Repertory Company is the professional theater company in residence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. PlayMakers Repertory Company is the successor of the Carolina Playmakers and is named after the Historic Playmakers T ...

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, Orange and Durham County, North Carolina, Durham counties, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 United States census, making Chapel Hill the List of municipa ...

, in 1979, and was an outgrowth of his book, ''Sherman's March and Vietnam''; ''Jonestown Express,'' based on his 1981 book ''Our Father Who Art in Hell'', premiered with the Trinity Square Repertory Company in 1982; ''Galileo's Torch'' was adapted from his biography of Galileo and ''Galileo: A Life'' was staged in seven separate productions between 2014 and 2017; and ''Luther's Trumpet'' is an adaptation of his 2016 book, ''Luther's Fortress'', and premiered in September 2018. In 2005, Reston tried to stop production of

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...

's film '' Kingdom of Heaven,'' claiming half of the script was based on the first part of his book ''Warriors of God''. Reston's book was previously optioned by

Phoenix Pictures Phoenix Pictures is an American independent film production company that has produced films since the mid to late 1990s with features including '' The People vs. Larry Flynt'' (1996), '' The Thin Red Line'' (1998), ''Zodiac'' (2007), ''Black Swan' ...

, who had unsuccessfully pitched the concept to Scott as a potential project. Reston said, "They have built this film on the back of my intellectual property. They just read the first hundred pages and saw it has these great characters and a fantastic battle." In 2016, Reston's 1977 book, ''The Innocence of Joan Little: A Southern Mystery'', was optioned by

Paulist Productions Paulist Productions is an independent Catholic Church, Catholic film production company founded in 1960 by the Paulist Fathers, Paulist priest Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser. The Paulists describe the company as a "creator of films and television ...

to possibly develop as a limited series. Reston was a Guest Scholar at the

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS) or Wilson Center is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topi ...

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, from 1994 to 1995, and a Global Fellow from October 2002 to December 2022.James Reston Jr
Wilson Center Experts,

Wilson Center The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS) or Wilson Center is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank dedicated to research and policy discussions on global issues. Established by an act of Congress in 1968, it serves as both ...

He was also fellow at the

American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo in Rome, Italy. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History 19th century In 1893, a group of American architect ...

. In 2011, he was a resident scholar at the Kluge Center at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

Professional affiliations

Reston was a member of the

Authors Guild The Authors Guild is the United States' oldest and largest professional organization for writers and provides advocacy on issues of free expression and copyright protection. Since its founding in 1912 as the Authors League of America, it has coun ...

, the

Authors League of America The Authors Guild is the United States' oldest and largest professional organization for writers and provides advocacy on issues of free expression and copyright protection. Since its founding in 1912 as the Authors League of America, it has coun ...

, the

Dramatists Guild of America The Dramatists Guild of America is a professional organization for playwrights, composers, and lyricists working in the U.S. theatre market. It was born in 1921 out of the Authors Guild, known then as Authors League of America, formed in 1912. M ...

, and

PEN PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

Personal life

Reston married Denise Brender Leary on June 12, 1971, in

Hume, Virginia Hume is a small unincorporated village in Fauquier County, Virginia. Hume is five miles south of Interstate 66's Exit 18 and is named for the local Hume family. It runs along Virginia State Route 688. It is east of the Rappahannock County line ...

, at Fiery Run, the Restons' cabin. She received a law degree from

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

and is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Milton Leary of the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. They lived in

Chevy Chase, Maryland Chevy Chase () is the colloquial name of an area that includes a town, several incorporated villages, and an unincorporated census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland; and one adjoining neighborhood in northwest Washington, D ...

, and had three children: Maeve, Hillary Reston, and Devin. As of 2017, Reston lived at

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, lying just south of Cape Cod. It is known for being a popular, affluent summer colony, and includes the smaller peninsula Chappaquiddick Isla ...

. Reston's book ''Fragile Innocence, A Father's Memoir of His Daughter's Courageous Journey'' (2006) is the story of his daughter Hillary's experience with a debilitative viral brain infection. James Reston Jr. died from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

, on July 19, 2023, at age 82.

Awards

In 1983, Reston received the

Prix Italia The Prix Italia is an international television, radio-broadcasting and web award. It was established in 1948 by RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana (in 1948, RAI had the denomination RAI – Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Capri and is honoured with th ...

and the Dupont–Columbia Award for radio documentary ''Father Cares: the Last of Jonestown'' on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

''.'' He received the Valley Forge Award for ''Sherman's March and Vietnam'' in 1985''.''

In popular culture

Reston's book ''The Conviction of Richard Nixon'' was developed into a play, '' Frost/Nixon'' that was, in turn, developed into a film with the same title. Reston is depicted in the 2008 film '' Frost/Nixon'' by

Sam Rockwell Sam Rockwell (born November 5, 1968) is an American actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for playing troubled police officer Jason Dixon in ''Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'' (2017). He was nominated i ...

. Reston developed a theory that

Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at age 12 for truan ...

's target was Texas Governor

John Connally John Bowden Connally Jr. (February 27, 1917June 15, 1993) was an American politician who served as the 39th governor of Texas from 1963 to 1969 and as the 61st United States secretary of the treasury from 1971 to 1972. He began his career as a Hi ...

, not President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

Publications

Novels

* ''To Defend, to Destroy'' (1971) * ''The Knock at Midnight'' (1975) * ''The 19th Hijacker: A Novel of 9/11'', 2021

Nonfiction books

* ''When Can I Come Home'' (1972) * ''The Amnesty of John David Herndon'' (1973) * ''Perfectly Clear: Nixon from Whittier to Watergate'', Quadrangle (1973) * ''The Innocence of Joan Little: A Southern Mystery'' (1977), * ''Our Father Who Art in Hell: The Life and Death of

Jim Jones James Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American cult leader, preacher and mass murderer who founded and led the Peoples Temple between 1955 and 1978. Jones and the members of his inner circle planned and orchestrat ...

'' (1981) * ''Sherman's March and Vietnam'' (1985) * ''The Lone Star: The Life of John Connally'' (1989) * ''Collision at Home Plate: The Lives of Pete Rose and Bart Giamatti'' (1991) * ''Galileo: A Life'' (1994) * ''The Last Apocalypse: Europe in the Year 1000 A.D.'' (1998) * ''Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade'' (2001) * ''Dogs of God: Columbus, the Inquisition, and the Defeat of the Moors'' (2005) * ''Fragile Innocence: A Father's Memoir of His Daughter's Courageous Journey (''2006) * ''The Conviction of Richard Nixon: The Untold Story of the Frost/Nixon Interviews'' (2007) * ''Defenders of the Faith: Charles V, Suleyman the Magnificent, and the Battle for Europe, 1520–1536'' (2009) * ''The Accidental Victim: JFK, Lee Harvey Oswald, and the Real Target in Dallas (''2013) * ''Luther's Fortress: Martin Luther and His Reformation Under Siege'' (2015) * ''A Rift in the Earth: Art, Memory, and the Fight for a Vietnam War Memorial'' (2017) * ''The Impeachment Diary: Eyewitness to the Removal of a President'' (2019).

Plays

* ''Sherman, the Peacemaker: A Play in Two Acts'' (1979) * ''Jonestown Express'', a play (1984) * ''Galileo's Torch'' (2014) * ''Luther's Trumpet'' (2018)

Radio

* "Father Cares: The Last of Jonestown" (NPR, 1981) * "Bush Administration Misuses the Word 'Caliphate (NPR, 2005) * "Political Stem-Cell Debate Delays Medical Progress" (NPR, 2006) * "Impeachment: The View from 1974" (NPR, 2019)

Television

* ''88 Seconds in Greensboro'' (PBS ''Frontline'', 1983) * ''The Real Stuff'' (PBS ''Frontline'',1987) * ''The Mission of Discovery'' (PBS ''Frontline'', 1988) * ''Betting on the Lottery'' (PBS ''Frontline'',1990)

Articles

* "Vietnamize at Home", ''The New York Times'' (April 10, 1971) * "Is Nuremberg Coming Back to Haunt Us?" ''The Saturday Review'' (July 18, 1970) * "Universal Amnesty", ''New Republic'' (February 5, 1972) * "Needed: A Grand Reconciliation: Not a Determination of Who Was More Moral on the War." ''Newsday'' (September 3, 1974) * "Limited Amnesty: Not Easy: The President Gave Himself a Difficult Job" ''The New York Times'' (September 8, 1974) * "Real Amnesty Would be Good for America" ''Newsday'' (March 31, 1975) * "The Joan Little Case." ''The New York Times Magazine'' (April 6, 1975) * "On Carter's Amnesty and Pardon Views" ''The New York Times'' (October 2, 1976) * "Southern Justice and the Case of Joan Little" ''The New York Times'' (January 6, 1978) * "The Breaking of Richard Nixon" ''Playboy'' (April 1978) * "The Jonestown Papers." (Cover story). ''New Republic''. (April 25, 1981) * "Opinion: Meet the Program Past." ''The New York Times'' (June 27, 1981) * "Reagan and Monroe." ''The New York Times'' (March 14, 1982) * "A Matter of Honor," ''The New York Times'' (April 7, 1982) * "Mission to a Mind" ''OMNI'' (1984) * "Invitation to a Poisoning," ''Vanity Fair'' (February 1985) * "United States Commission on Civil Rights: We Shall Undermine." ''Rolling Stone'' (March 13, 1986) * "Collision Course." (Cover Story) ''Time'' (May 23, 1994) * "The Persistence of Guilt. ''American Theatre''. (January 1995) * "The Monument Glut. ''The New York Times Magazine''. (September 10, 1995) * "Orion: Where Stars Are Born." ''National Geographic''. (December 1995) * "Opinion: Failing the 1869 Test." ''The New York Times'' (January 9, 1999) * "Be Christina or Die." ''Christian History'' (1999) * "Frost, Nixon, and Me." ''Smithsonian''.(January 2009) * "A Prophet in His Time." ''American Theatre'' (March 2002) * "When Generosity Is Medically Necessary." ''The New York Times''. (August 7, 2002) * "Jesse James and Me." ''Smithsonian'' (October 2007) * "Pointed Questions." ''Wilson Quarterly''. (2012) * "Correcting JFK Mythology on his Death" ''USA Today'' (November 13, 2013) * "Induct Pete Rose into Hall of Fame: Column" ''USA Today'' (March 27, 2014) * "Opinion: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Three Southern Villains." ''Newsweek'' (February 15, 2015) * "Clark and Pritchett: A Comparison of Two Notorious Southern Lawmen." ''Southern Cultures'' (Winter 2016) * "The Novelist's Event: Fact, Fiction, and a Writer's Search for a Universal Subject." ''Georgia Review'' (2018) * "Opinion: Another Impeachable Offense." ''The New York Times''. (May 6, 2019) * To Heal a Nation': Creating the Vietnam Wall" ''American Heritage (''June 2021) * "Remembering Flight 93: 'Okay. Let's Roll ''American Heritage.'' (September/October 2021)

References

External links

*
Interview at the 2006 National Book Festival
Library of Congress {{DEFAULTSORT:Reston, James Jr. 1941 births 2023 deaths 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American biographers American male biographers American male dramatists and playwrights American male non-fiction writers American political writers Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Maryland North Carolina Tar Heels men's soccer players Writers from New York City Soccer players from Washington, D.C. St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.) alumni University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty