Eugene Thomas Maleska (January 6, 1916 – August 3, 1993) was a
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
crossword puzzle
A crossword is a word puzzle that usually takes the form of a square or a rectangular grid of white- and black-shaded squares. The goal is to fill the white squares with letters, forming words or phrases, by solving clues which lead to the answ ...
constructor and editor.
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' had published dozens of crosswords that he had submitted as a freelance contributor. He became the crossword editor for ''The New York Times'' in 1977, replacing
Will Weng
William C. "Will" Weng (February 25, 1907 – May 2, 1993) was an American journalist and crossword puzzle constructor who was the crossword puzzle editor for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 to 1977.
Born in Terre Haute, Indiana, he attended I ...
. In 1993, Maleska was succeeded by
Will Shortz
William F. Shortz (born August 26, 1952) is an American puzzle creator and editor and crossword puzzle editor for ''The New York Times''.
Early life and education
Will Shortz was born and raised on an Arabian horse farm in Crawfordsville, Indi ...
, who remains New York Times crossword editor to this day. Besides numerous collections of puzzles, Maleska also published Maleska's Favorite Word Games and A Pleasure in Words, which included a chapter on constructing crossword puzzles.
Biography
Maleska was born on January 6, 1916, in
Jersey City
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Regis High School in New York City. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from
Montclair State College
Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public university in New ...
and began his career teaching Latin and English at a junior high school in
Palisades Park, New Jersey
Palisades Park is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 20,292, an increase of 670 (+3.4%) from the 2010 census count of 19,622,
.
He married Jean (c. 1915–1983) and had two children: Merryl Maleska Wilbur and Gary Maleska. Eugene moved to Frederick Douglass Junior High School in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
in 1940 as an English teacher. In 1946 he became an assistant to the principal at P.S. 169, then principal at P.S. 192 in the early 1950s. He took a yearlong sabbatical to attend
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, where he earned a doctorate in education. He then was the principal at J.H.S. 164 from 1955 to 1958. From 1962 to 1967, he was an assistant superintendent of schools in District 8 in the Bronx. He then spent three years as an associate director of the Center for Urban Education before returning as the superintendent of District 8. He was the only person to have a New York City public school named for him during his lifetime: Intermediate School 174 in the Bronx, dedicated in 1973, the year he retired as superintendent. The first principal of this school was Chester Cohen, and the first Assistant Principal was Stephen Wulfson. Eugene T. Maleska was an amateur poet and published a book of poems, ''Sun & Shadows'' in 1961.
Maleska married Annrea (Neill) Sutton on 9 February 1985, in Barnstable, Massachusetts. They divorced at some pointFind A Grave: Annrea Neill Maleska /ref> and Maleska married Carol Atkinson as his third wife on March 11, 1992. Carol had previously been married. Maleska died in
Daytona Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal Resort town, resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County, Florida, Volusia County near the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic coastline, its population ...
in 1993 of throat cancer. He also had a home in
Wareham, Massachusetts
Wareham ( ) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 23,303.
History
Wareham was first settled in 1678 by Europeans as part of the towns of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Plymouth ...