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Richard Paul Bernstein (May 5, 1944 – March 31, 2025) was an American journalist, columnist and author. He wrote the ''Letter from America'' column for the ''
International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France, for international English-speaking readers. It published under the name ''International Herald Tribune'' starting in 1967, but its ...
''. He was a book critic at ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' and a foreign correspondent for both ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine and ''The New York Times'' in Europe and Asia.


Early life and education

Richard Paul Bernstein was bornNew York Times: "The Meaning of Life" By Alexander Frater
March 25, 2001
in New York City on May 5, 1944, but grew up on a poultry farm in East Haddam, Connecticut. After graduating from Nathan Hale-Ray High School, he earned a
B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...
in history from the
University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...
and an M.A. in History and East Asian Languages from
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
.Richard Bernstein website: "About Me"
retrieved February 16, 2013
In 1971, he moved to Taiwan to study Chinese.


Career

In 1973, Bernstein joined the staff of ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine tasked with writing about Asia. In 1979, he opened the magazine's first bureau in the People's Republic of China and served as the first Beijing bureau chief. In 1982, he accepted a position with ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' where he served as the United Nations Bureau Chief, Paris Bureau Chief, National Cultural Correspondent, book critic, and
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 ...
Bureau Chief.


Published works

Bernstein's first book, ''From the Center of the Earth: The Search for the Truth About China'' (1982), was named one of the "Notable Books of the Year 1982" by ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' and solidified his reputation as a China expert. ''The Coming Conflict with China'' (1997) was chosen as one of ''The New York Times'' "Notable Books of the Year 1997." Bibliography *''From the Center of the Earth: The Search for the Truth About China'' (1982) *''Fragile Glory: A Portrait of France and the French'' (1990) *''Dictatorship of Virtue: Multiculturalism and the Battle for America's Future'' (1994) *'' The Coming Conflict with China'' (1997), with Ross. H. Munro *''Ultimate Journey: Retracing the Path of an Ancient Buddhist Monk Who Crossed Asia in Search of Enlightenment'' (2001) *''Out of the Blue: The Story of September 11, 2001, from Jihad to Ground Zero'' (2002) *''The East, the West, and Sex: A History of Erotic Encounters'' (2009) *''A Girl Named Faithful Plum: The Story of a Dancer from China and How She Achieved Her Dream'' (2012) *''China 1945'' (2014) *''Only in America: Al Jolson and the Jazz Singer'' (2024)


Personal life and death

Bernstein lived in the
Park Slope Park Slope is a neighborhood in South Brooklyn, New York City, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park and Eighth Avenue (Brooklyn), Prospect Park West to the east, ...
neighborhood of
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, New York City. His wife was Zhongmei Li, a Chinese classical dancer who worked with Jia Zhoungli and whom he met at a New York film screening. She attended the
Beijing Dance Academy The Beijing Dance Academy (BDA, ) is a municipal public professional dance college at Haidian District, Haidian, Beijing. The academy is the highest institution for dance education and assessment in the People's Republic of China, conducting the ...
for 7 years (1978–1984) and founded the New York-based Zhongmei Dance Company in 1992.Zhongmei Dance Company: about Zhongmei Li
retrieved February 16, 2013.
They had a son. Bernstein died from pancreatic cancer at a hospital in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
, on March 31, 2025, at the age of 80.


References


External links


Biography
at
Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

Profile
at ''
New York Review of Books New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
''
Articles
at ''The New York Times''
Articles
at ''Time''

with ''Bold Type Magazine''
Interview
with
Charlie Rose Charles Peete Rose Jr. (born January 5, 1942) is an American journalist and talk show host. From 1991 to 2017, he was the host and executive producer of the talk show ''Charlie Rose (talk show), Charlie Rose'' on PBS and Bloomberg L.P., Bloombe ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernstein, Richard 1944 births 2025 deaths Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni International Herald Tribune people American newspaper reporters and correspondents American columnists Jewish American journalists The New York Times journalists Journalists from New York City People from East Haddam, Connecticut Journalists from Connecticut University of Connecticut alumni 20th-century American journalists American male journalists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American Jews American expatriates in Taiwan Deaths from pancreatic cancer in New York (state) People from Park Slope