Norton Mockridge (September 29, 1915 – April 18, 2004) was an American journalist, newspaper editor, syndicated columnist who helped break the

Elizabeth Bentley Elizabeth Terrill Bentley (January 1, 1908 – December 3, 1963) was an American NKVD spymaster, who was recruited from within the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). She served the Soviet Union as the primary handler of multiple highly placed moles ...

Soviet spy story in 1948 and whom the ''New York Times'' called "a jack-of-all-trades: New York newspaper man, humorist, columnist and author."

Background

Norton A. Mockridge was born on September 29, 1915, in

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 ...

. His father Frank Walter Mockridge was a

New York Telephone Company Verizon New York, Inc., formerly The New York Telephone Company (NYTel), was organized in 1896, taking over the New York City operations of the Bell Telephone Company, American Bell Telephone Company. Predecessor companies The Telephone Company ...

executive; his mother was Fredricka Apfel. Mockridge went to high school in

Mount Kisco Mount Kisco is a village and town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The town of Mount Kisco is coterminous with the village. The population was 10,959 at the 2020 United States census. It serves as a significant historic site al ...

Career

In 1933, Mockridge started work as a reporter for the weekly ''Mount Kisco Recorder''. In 1936, he joined ''The White Plains Daily Reporter'', where he became a critic and city editor. In 1940, he joined ''The

New York World-Telegram The ''New York World-Telegram'', later known as the ''New York World-Telegram and The Sun'', was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966. History Founded by James Gordon Bennett Sr. as ''The Evening Telegram'' in 1867, the newspaper began ...

''. In 1942 during World War II, he joined the U.S. Army and rose to first lieutenant. On July 21, 1948, the ''World-Telegram'' published a front-page article co-written with

Nelson Frank Julian Nelson Frank (1906–1974) was a journalist for the ''New York World-Telegram'', an anti-communist special agent with U.S. Naval Intelligence, and an investigator for the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee.Mata Hari Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod (, ; 7 August 187615 October 1917), better known by the stage name Mata Hari ( , ; , ), was a Dutch Stripper, exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for German Empire, Germany during World War ...

-like Soviet ex-spy. On July 29, 1948, this unnamed ex-spy would come forward and testify before a Senate investigation committee and again on July 31, 1948, before the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 19 ...

(HUAC). The spy's name was

. In 1956, Mockridge became city editor of ''The World-Telegram & Sun''. In 1963, while he was editor and editor, the newspaper won a

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 on a plane crash in

Jamaica Bay Jamaica Bay (also known as Grassy Bay) is an estuary on the southern portion of the western tip of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The estuary is partially man-made, and partially natural. The bay connects with Lo ...

. From 1963 to 1964, Mockridge hosted of a daily WCBS radio show, thereafter expanded to the

CBS Radio Network CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. It ...

until 1970. Mockridge was a columnist for ''The World-Telegram'' from 1963 to 1966, then syndicated by

Scripps-Howard Newspapers The E. W. Scripps Company, also known as Scripps, is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglom ...

and

United Feature Syndicate United Feature Syndicate, Inc. (UFS) is a large American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1919. Originally part of E. W. Scripps Company, it was part of United Media ( ...

from 1966 until 1980.

Personal life and death

Mockridge married Margaret Eleanor Gleason; after 15 years of marriage and three children, they divorced in 1961. In 1963, he married Valborg Palmer. In 1978, Mockridge filed an age-discrimination lawsuit against

, settled out of court. Mockridge, a humorist, cited "hundreds of mutations" of his name, including "Gordon Mockowitz," "Morton Muckeridge," and "Gordon Muskrotch." If asked whether "Norton Mockridge" was really his name, he would answer, "You think I'd make it up?" Mockridge died age 88 on April 18, 2004, of pneumonia 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 ...

Awards

* 1949: Christopher Award * 1963: Pulitzer Prize (with ''World Telegram'' city staff) * 1974: Jesse H. Neal certificate of merit

Works

Books include: * ''This Is Costello'' (with Robert H. Prall) (1951) * ''The Big Fix'' (with Robert H. Prall) (1954) * ''Costello on the Spot'' (1957) * ''Fractured English'' (1965) * ''A Funny Thing Happened'' (1966) * ''Mockridge, You're Slipping'' (1967) * ''Scrawl of the Wild: What People Write on Walls and Why'' (1968) Articles with

References

External sources

*
Channel 13
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mockridge, Norton 1915 births 2004 deaths American male journalists 20th-century American non-fiction writers American anti-communists 20th-century American male writers United States Army personnel of World War II