Nathan K. "Nick" Kotz (September 16, 1932 – April 26, 2020) was an American journalist, author, and historian. His most recent book, ''The Harness Makers Dream: Nathan Kallison and the Rise of South Texas'', tells the story of Ukrainian immigrant Nathan Kallison's journey to the United States. He is best known for his 2005 book ''Judgment Days: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Laws that Changed America'' chronicling the roles of US President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

and

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

in the passage of the 1964, 1965, and 1968 civil rights laws. Kotz won a

Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs in the United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily ...

in 1968 for his reporting of unsanitary conditions in many meat packing plants, which helped ensure the passage of the

Wholesome Meat Act The Wholesome Meat Act (also called "Equal To" law) is a United States federal law passed by the 90th United States Congressional session and enacted into law by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson on December 15, 1967, amending the Federal ...

Life

Kotz was born in

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

. As a reporter for the ''

Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa, United States. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cab ...

'' and the ''

Washington Post ''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 ...

'', and as a freelance writer, Nick Kotz won many of journalism's most important honors, including the

Sigma Delta Chi Award The Sigma Delta Chi Awards are presented annually by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) (formerly Sigma Delta Chi) for excellence in journalism. The SPJ states the purpose of the award is to promote "the free flow of information vital ...

for Washington correspondence, the

Raymond Clapper Memorial Award The Raymond Clapper Memorial Award, later called the Washington Reporting Raymond Clapper Award, was an American journalism award presented from 1944 to 2011. Named in honor of Raymond Clapper (1892–1944), the award was given "to a journalist ...

, and the first

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), also known as RFK, was an American politician and lawyer. He served as the 64th United States attorney general from January 1961 to September 1964, and as a U.S. senator from New Yo ...

Memorial Award. His study of American military leadership won the

National Magazine Award The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

for public service. His book ''Wild Blue Yonder: Money, Politics, and the B-1 Bomber'' won the Olive Branch Award. Kotz's other books include ''A Passion For Equality: George Wiley and the Movement'' (with Mary Lynn Kotz); ''Let Them Eat Promises: The Politics of Hunger''; and ''The Unions'' (with Haynes Johnson). A ''magna cum laude'' graduate of

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

, Kotz did graduate study in international relations at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. After college, he served as a lieutenant in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

. Committed to education, he served as a distinguished adjunct professor at the American University School of Communications and as a Senior Journalist in Residence, for a semester, at

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 ...

. He was married to Mary Lynn Kotz, a journalist and author of ''Rauschenberg: Art and Life''; and co-author of ''Upstairs at the White House: My Life With the First Ladies''. Their son, Jack Mitchell Kotz, is a photographer. Kotz died in April 2020 as a result of an accident involving his automobile at his home.

Works

*''Let them eat promises: the politics of hunger in America'', Doubleday Anchor books, 1971 *''A Passion for Equality: George A. Wiley and the Movement'', W. W. Norton, Incorporated, 1977, *''Wild blue yonder: money, politics, and the B-1 bomber'', Pantheon Books, 1988, * *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kotz, Nick 1932 births 2020 deaths Alumni of the London School of Economics Dartmouth College alumni Military personnel from Texas Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting winners Road incident deaths in Virginia Writers from San Antonio United States Marine Corps officers