Jennifer Ninel Toth (August 15, 1967 – April 12, 2025) was an American journalist and writer. She was known for her published studies of

homeless people Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

and

orphan An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...

Early life and education

Toth was born in London on August 15, 1967, to American parents Robert and Paula Toth. Her father was a national security correspondent for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' and later a senior associate at the

Pew Research Center The Pew Research Center (also simply known as Pew) is a nonpartisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world. It ...

, while her mother was a lawyer and

special advocate A special advocate is a lawyer, usually a barrister or advocate, sometimes a solicitor, who is appointed to represent the interests of a party in closed proceedings, i.e. proceedings from which that party has been excluded. Special advocates are ge ...

for the state of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. Toth grew up in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, Russia (where her father was a reporter for three years) and

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 ...

. She received her undergraduate degree in history from

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

in 1989, before graduating 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 ...

with an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in journalism in 1990.

Career

From 1990 to 1992, Toth worked as a journalist for the ''

'' in

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 ...

and New York, and afterwards for the

Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

News & Observer ''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the '' Charlotte Observer''). The paper has be ...

'' from 1992 to 1995, after which she quit to focus on her book projects.Biography from the sleeve notes of the 1994 German edition of ''Mole People'',

''The Mole People''

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, she published ''The Mole People: Life in the Tunnels Beneath New York City'' through

Chicago Review Press Chicago Review Press, or CRP, is a U.S. book publisher and an independent company founded in 1973. Chicago Review Press publishes approximately 60 new titles yearly under eight imprints: Chicago Review Press, Lawrence Hill Books, Academy Chicago, ...

. The book featured interviews with some dwellers of the "

Freedom Tunnel The Freedom Tunnel is a railroad tunnel carrying the West Side Line under Riverside Park (Manhattan), Riverside Park in Manhattan, New York City. Used by Amtrak trains to and from Pennsylvania Station (New York City), Pennsylvania Station, it g ...

". Her life was threatened by one of the

mole people In the United States, the term mole people (also called tunnel people or tunnel dwellers) is sometimes used to describe homeless people living under large cities in abandoned subway, railroad, flood, sewage tunnels, and heating shafts. In docu ...

whom she befriended, who thought she witnessed him killing a crack addict. She consequently fled

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 ...

to live with her parents in

. Some critics cast doubt on the accuracy of Toth's accounts.

Cecil Adams Cecil Adams, affectionately known to readers and fans and sometimes refers to himself as Uncle Cecil or Uncle Cece, is the pseudonymous author of ''The Straight Dope'', a popular question and answer column published in the ''Chicago Reader'' from ...

' ''

The Straight Dope ''The Straight Dope'' was a question-and-answer newspaper column written under the pseudonym Cecil Adams. Contributions were made by multiple authors, and it was illustrated (also pseudonymously) by Slug Signorino. It was first published in 197 ...

'', a widely read question and answer column, devoted two columns to the ''Mole People'' dispute. The first, published on January 9, 2004, after contact with Toth, noted the large amount of unverifiability in Toth's stories while declaring that the book's accounts seemed to be truthful. The second, published on March 9, 2004, after contact with Joseph Brennan, was more skeptical.

Writing on foster care

In 1997, Toth published ''Orphans of the Living: Stories of America's Children in Foster Care'', a book narrating the life stories of five young adults from North Carolina, California, and Illinois who overcame heavy odds to survive their childhood in foster care. ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' called it an "eloquent and harrowing study", and "an excellent expose of a system that hurts those it is charged to help". In 2002, Toth released another narrative about a young man, ''What Happened to Johnnie Jordan?: The Story of a Child Turning Violent'', that once again addressed foster care and juvenile services, this time in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

. In its review, ''

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 ...

'' wrote: "In accounts of dysfunctional families, children are often the victims of violence; here, though, a child is both victim and perpetrator. The child in question is Johnnie Jordan, a fifteen-year-old Ohioan who brutally murdered his foster mother in 1996, hacking her to death with a hatchet and then setting her on fire. Through a series of interviews with Jordan, his foster father, and others within the child-welfare system, Toth constructs an agonizing portrait of a boy who was repeatedly abused from a very young age and repeatedly failed by the system responsible for protecting him."

Personal life and death

Toth married Craig Whitlock, a journalist and national-security correspondent for ''The Washington Post'', in 1996. From 2004 to 2010, the couple lived in Berlin, where Whitlock was stationed for work. She had one child. Toth died from respiratory complications in Silver Spring, Maryland, on April 12, 2025, at the age of 57.

Bibliography

* ''The Mole People: Life in the Tunnels Beneath New York City'' (1993) () * ''Orphans of the Living: Stories of America's Children in Foster Care'' (1997) () * ''What Happened to Johnnie Jordan?: The Story of a Child Turning Violent'' (2002) () * ''Bajo El Asfalto'' (Spanish translation of ''The Mole People'') (2001) ()

References

External links

Views of Freedom Tunnel
which is featured in her book

''

'', January 9, 2004
"The Mole People revisited"
''

'', March 5, 2004 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Toth, Jennifer 1967 births 2025 deaths 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American women journalists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni Los Angeles Times people Respiratory disease deaths in Maryland Washington University in St. Louis alumni