John Hoerr (December 12, 1930 – June 21, 2015) was an American

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

best known for his work on

organized labor The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

, industry, and politics. He began a journalistic career in 1956 with

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

and Trenton. Later he worked at ''The Daily Tribune'' in

Royal Oak, Michigan Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Metro Detroit, Detroit, Royal Oak is located roughly north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cens ...

, rejoined UPI for two years in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and served separate stints with ''

Business Week ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...

'', in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

and Pittsburgh, specializing as a labor reporter on the automobile, steel, and coal-mining industries. After five years as an on-air reporter and documentary producer at WQED, the

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 ...

station in Pittsburgh, he returned to ''Business Week'' in 1975 as labor editor and later senior writer on the New York staff. Based upon his experience in reporting on national labor issues, in 1988 he published ''And the Wolf Finally Came'', a book describing problems in both labor and management perceptions that contributed to the decline of the US steel industry in production and importance in the world economy. After leaving ''Business Week'' in 1991, he published two nonfiction books and one novel. He was born in

McKeesport McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. A suburb of Pittsburgh, it is situated at the confluence of the Monongahela River, Monongahela and Youghiogheny River, Youghiogheny rivers. The population was 17,727 as of the ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, a steelmaking town in the Monongahela River Valley south of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. He graduated from

McKeesport Area High School McKeesport Area High School is a public high school located in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, United States. The school, which is located at 1960 Eden Park Boulevard, serves students from Dravosburg, McKeesport, South Versailles, Versailles, and Whi ...

(1948) and

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

(1953). During college he worked short stints in the steel works at McKeesport. Hoerr 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 ...

1953-1955 and was stationed in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. After living for more than three decades in

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. The town is know for their pancake throwing contest held ...

, he moved to

Middleborough, Massachusetts Middleborough is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,405 as of 2023. The census-designated place of Middleborough Center, Massachusetts, Middleborough Center corresponds to the main village and commercia ...

in 2009.Levin, Jay
"John Hoerr, 84, chronicled the fall of steel"
''

The Record (Bergen County) ''The Record'' (also called ''The North Jersey Record'', ''The Bergen Record'', ''The Sunday Record'' (Sunday edition) and formerly ''The Bergen Evening Record'') is a newspaper in New Jersey, United States. Serving Bergen, Essex, Hudson and ...

'', June 26, 2015. Accessed June 26, 2015. "John Hoerr, a journalist and former Teaneck resident, authored one of the most definitive accounts of the collapse of America's steel industry.... The Hoerrs moved to Middleborough in 2009 after 33 years in Teaneck."

Books

* ''And the Wolf Finally Came: The Decline of the American Steel Industry'', nonfiction (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1988). * ''We Can't Eat Prestige: The Women Who Organized Harvard'', nonfiction (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1997). * ''Harry, Tom and Father Rice: Accusation and Betrayal in America's Cold War'', nonfiction (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005). * ''Monongahela Dusk'', novel (Pittsburgh: Autumn House Press, 2009).

References

Sources

''Contemporary Authors Online''. The Gale Group, 2008.

External links

Author website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoerr, John 1930 births 2015 deaths Pennsylvania State University alumni Writers from Pittsburgh Journalists from Pittsburgh People from McKeesport, Pennsylvania People from Middleborough, Massachusetts Writers from Teaneck, New Jersey Labor journalists