Sylvan Fox (June 2, 1928 – December 22, 2007) was an American journalist who 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 ...

. He worked as a reporter in upstate

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

before he came to the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

-based ''World-Telegram'' newspaper. He wrote one of the first books critical of the 1964 report by the

Warren Commission The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President of the United States, President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the A ...

on the assassination of President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

, ''The Unanswered Questions about the Kennedy Assassination''. From 1967 to 1973, he worked as a reporter and editor 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 ...

'', including a stint as the

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

bureau chief in 1973. He went on to spend 15 years at ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...

'', where he was editorial page editor from 1979 to 1988. Fox was a reporter at ''The New York World-Telegram and Sun'' on March 1, 1962, when he was part of a team assigned to cover an airplane crash on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

that killed all 95 passengers. He worked the facts provided by other reporters on the scene and delivered an article within thirty minutes of the accident. He rewrote the article for seven editions of the paper, adding new details as they came in. Within 90 minutes of the crash, he had produced a 3,000-word story. The next year he shared with colleagues Anthony Shannon and William Longgood the

Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, Edition Time The Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting is a Pulitzer Prize awarded for a distinguished example of breaking news, local reporting on news of the moment. It has been awarded since 1953 under several names: *From 1953 to 1963: Pulitzer Pr ...

— referring to work under pressure of a deadline, a predecessor of the Breaking News Pulitzer. Fox grew up in

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 ...

. He was a classically trained pianist and spent four years at the

Juilliard School of Music The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became the Juilliard School, named afte ...

, but left without a degree because of his decision to change his major from piano to musical composition. There he met Gloria Endleman, a fellow piano student, who became his wife and who survives him. Fox graduated from

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

with a degree in philosophy, then earned a master's degree in

musicology Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, ...

from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. Fox was a visiting professor at Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus in 1967 and 1968, where he taught journalism courses.''The Sound'', LIU's yearbook (1967, 1968) He died, aged 79, in

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

's Medical Center from complications from pneumonia.

References

''Newsday'' obituary

External links

* *

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

Catalog Records: ''The Unanswered Questions about President Kennedy's Assassination'
(New York: Award Books, 1965)(London: Mayflower, 1966)
1928 births 2007 deaths American male journalists Brooklyn College alumni Newsday people Musicians from Brooklyn University of California, Berkeley alumni Deaths from pneumonia in New York City Place of death missing Place of birth missing 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American journalists American male pianists 20th-century American male musicians Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting winners {{US-journalist-1920s-stub