Peter H. Wyden (October 2, 1923 – June 27, 1998) was an American journalist and historian.

Early life

Wyden was born Peter Weidenreich, in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

to a Jewish family. His mother, Helen (née Silberstein), was a concert singer, and his father, Erich Weidenreich, was a businessman.

Franz Weidenreich Franz Weidenreich (7 June 1873 – 11 July 1948) was a Jewish German anatomist and physical anthropologist who studied evolution. Life and career Weidenreich studied at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Universität in Strasbourg where he earned a medica ...

, German anatomist and physical anthropologist, was one of his uncles. Wyden attended the

Goldschmidt School The Goldschmidt School was a school that existed in Berlin, Germany, in the late 1930s. It was founded by Leonore Goldschmidt, a German Jewish educator, after Jewish children were barred from attending public schools in 1938. Notable alumni in ...

until he left

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

for the United States in 1937. After studying at

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

, he served with 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 ...

Psychological Warfare Division The Psychological Warfare Division of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (PWD/SHAEF or SHAEF/PWD) was a joint Anglo-American organization set-up in World War II tasked with conducting (predominantly) white tactical psychological war ...

in Europe 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 ...

."About the Author" bio on the dustjacket of ''Bay of Pigs, The Untold Story'', Simon and Schuster, 1979. His training at

Camp Ritchie Fort Ritchie in Cascade, Maryland was a military installation southwest of Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania and southeast of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, Waynesboro in the area of South Mountain (Maryland and Pennsylvania), South Mountain. Followin ...

places him among the ranks of the

Ritchie Boys The Ritchie Boys, part of the U.S. Military Intelligence Service (MIS) at the War Department, were an organization of soldiers in World War II with sizable numbers of German and Austrian recruits who were used primarily for interrogation of pri ...

, a group of Military Intelligence Officers who used their language skills to obtain intel in Europe. In 2021, Peter's son Ron Wyden, a U.S. Senator, was instrumental in creating a senate resolution recognizing the Ritchie Boys for their efforts.

Career

After the war, Wyden began a career in journalism, during which he worked as a reporter for ''

The Wichita Eagle ''The Wichita Eagle'' is a daily newspaper published in Wichita, Kansas, United States. Originating in the early 1870s, shortly after the city's founding, it is owned by The McClatchy Company and is the largest newspaper in Wichita and the surr ...

'', a feature writer for the ''

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the '' Belleville News-Democra ...

'', Washington correspondent for ''

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 ...

'' magazine, a contributing editor for ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

'' in Chicago and San Francisco, articles editor for ''

McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly United States, American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. The publication ...

'', and executive editor for ''

Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine that ran until 2016 and was last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th centur ...

''. Wyden authored or coauthored nine books, and numerous articles that appeared in major magazines. In 1969, he co-authored with his wife a book on homosexuality entitled '' Growing Up Straight''; the book summed up research on the topic, which suggested homosexuality could be prevented with a close paternal relationship in childhood. His last book, published in 1998, was about schizophrenia; it was based on his personal experience as his son Jeff suffered from the mental disorder. In 1970, Wyden became a book publisher in New York City and

Ridgefield, Connecticut Ridgefield is an affluent New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Situated in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains and on the New York state border, Ridgefield had a population o ...

Personal life and death

Wyden was married three times. He had two sons, including

Ron Wyden Ronald Lee Wyden ( ; born May 3, 1949) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Oregon, a seat he has held since 1996 United States Senate special el ...

, who became a United States senator. He died on June 27, 1998, in Danbury, Connecticut.

Books

*''Suburbia's Coddled Kids''. 1962. New Jersey: Doubleday & Company, Inc. *''The Overweight Society.'' 1965. New York: Pocket Books. * *''Bay of Pigs – The Untold Story''. 1979. New York: Simon and Schuster. *''The Passionate War: The Narrative History of the Spanish Civil War''. 1983. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1983 *''Day One: Before Hiroshima and After''. 1985. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1984 *''Stella: One Woman's True Tale of Evil, Betrayal, and Survival in Hitler's Germany''. Anchor Books, 1993. *''Wall: The Inside Story of Divided Berlin''. 1989. Simon and Schuster. *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyden, Peter 20th-century American historians 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers Cold War historians Historians of Europe Jewish American historians Jewish American journalists Jewish American non-fiction writers American male journalists American male non-fiction writers Newsweek people The Saturday Evening Post people United States Army personnel of World War II Ritchie Boys City College of New York alumni 20th-century American Jews American people of German-Jewish descent Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States 1923 births 1998 deaths