David Leon Chandler (May 26, 1937 – January 23, 1994) was an American journalist who wrote several historical and biographical books during the 1970s and 1980s. He was associated with early coverage of the

Kennedy Assassination John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle with ...

and was mentioned in the

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

report.

Biography

Chandler was born in

Covington, Kentucky Covington is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States, located at the confluence of the Ohio and Licking Rivers. Cincinnati, Ohio, lies to its immediate north across the Ohio and Newport, to its east across the Licking ...

. Following service in the merchant marine and

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

, Chandler worked three years from 1959 for '' The News-Herald'' in

Panama City, Florida Panama City is a city in and the county seat of Bay County, Florida, United States. Located along U.S. Highway 98 (US 98), it is the largest city between Tallahassee and Pensacola. It is the more populated city of the Panama City–Lynn ...

. Eventually he led a team whose investigation and coverage of corruption won the

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for the newspaper, citing its "three-year campaign against entrenched power and corruption, with resultant reforms in Panama City and Bay County.""The 1962 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Public Service"
The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2013-11-27. He worked for New Orleans' afternoon newspaper '' The States-Item'' 1962–1964 and then on contract with ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'' magazine, initially regarding the Kennedy assassination. Chandler ran for Governor of Louisiana in the 1971 Democratic Party primary "hoping to prove that a candidate could win the governorship without taking any campaign contributions"—and finished twelfth with 0.62% of the vote. From 1972 he was a free-lance writer of magazine articles and books. Chandler's books include ''Brothers in Blood'' (1975), a history of the

Cosa Nostra The Sicilian Mafia, also simply known as the Mafia and frequently referred to as Cosa nostra (, ; "our thing") by its members, is an Italian Mafia-terrorist-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society originating in the region of Sicily ...

; ''The Natural Superiority of Southern Politicians'', (1977); '' 100 Tons of Gold'' about a mysterious gold horde in New Mexico; ''Henry Flagler: The Astonishing Life and Times of the Visionary Robber Baron Who Founded Florida'' (1986); ''The Binghams of Louisville'' (1988), a controversial biography of

Robert Worth Bingham Robert Worth Bingham (November 8, 1871 – December 18, 1937) was a politician, judge, newspaper publisher and the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1933 to 1937. Background Bingham attended the University of North Carolina an ...

(who married Flagler's widow a year before her death); and ''The Jefferson Conspiracies'' (1994), about the death of Meriwether Lewis (released several months after Chandler's death). He also ghost-wrote the autobiography of his friend, Lafayette Lawyer

J. Minos Simon Joseph Minos Simon, Sr. (February 27, 1922 – March 11, 2004), was an American author, a lecturer, an aviator, a sportsman, and an attorney from Lafayette, Louisiana, who was particularly known for his courtroom theatrics and demeanor. Early ...

. Chandler lived in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

during the late 1960s and 1970s where he resided in an apartment in a building owned by

Clay Shaw Clay LaVergne Shaw (March 17, 1913 – August 15, 1974) was an American businessman and military officer from New Orleans, Louisiana. Shaw is best known for being the only person brought to trial for involvement in the assassination of John F. ...

. He died in Denver at age 56. He was survived by his third wife Mary Voelz Chandler and by four children from previous marriages.

Books

* ''The Dragon Variation: A History of the Mafia, Cosa Nostra, and Parent Societies from the Spanish Inquisition to the Present'' (Dutton, 1974), * ''Brothers in Blood: The Rise of Criminal Brotherhoods'' (Dutton, 1975); UK edition, ''The Criminal Brotherheads'' (Constable, 1976) * ''The Natural Superiority of Southern Politicians: A Revisionist History'' (Doubleday, 1977) * '' 100 Tons of Gold'' (Doubleday, 1978) * ''Dialing for Data: A Consumer's How-to Handbook on Computer Communications'' (Random House, 1984) * '' Henry Flagler: The Astonishing Life and Times of the Visionary Robber Baron Who Founded Florida'' (Macmillan, 1986) * ''The Binghams of Louisville: The Dark History Behind One of America's Great Fortunes'' (Crown, 1987), by David Leon Chandler with Mary Voelz Chandler * ''Law in the Cajun Nation'' (Lafayette, LA: Prescott Press, 1993),

with Chandler * ''The Jefferson Conspiracies: A President's Role in the Assassination of Meriwether Lewis'' (Wiliam Morrow, 1994)

References

External links

*
"Mary Voelz Chandler"
at LC Authorities, with 2 records
"An interview about Denver Architecture: Mary Voelz Chandler wrote the book on it"
''The Denver Post'', August 2, 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Chandler, David Leon 1994 deaths American newspaper reporters and correspondents American male non-fiction writers 1937 births 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers