John Hoerr (December 12, 1930 – June 21, 2015) was an American
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
and
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
best known for his work on
organized labor
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...
, industry, and politics.
He began a journalistic career in 1956 with
United Press International
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...
in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Trenton. Later he worked at ''The Daily Tribune'' in
Royal Oak, Michigan
Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Royal Oak is about north of Detroit's city limits. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 57,236.
Royal Oak is located along th ...
, rejoined UPI for two years in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, and served separate stints with ''
Business Week
''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...
'', in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
and Pittsburgh, specializing as a labor reporter on the automobile, steel, and coal-mining industries. After five years as an on-air reporter and documentary producer at WQED, the
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
station in Pittsburgh, he returned to ''Business Week'' in 1975 as labor editor and later senior writer on the New York staff. Based upon his experience in reporting on national labor issues, in 1988 he published ''And the Wolf Finally Came'', a book describing problems in both labor and management perceptions that contributed to the decline of the US steel industry in production and importance in the world economy. After leaving ''Business Week'' in 1991, he published two nonfiction books and one novel.
He was born in
McKeesport
McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated at the confluence of the Monongahela River, Monongahela and Youghiogheny River, Youghiogheny rivers and within the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
. He graduated from
McKeesport Area High School
McKeesport Area High School is a public high school located in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, United States. The school, which is located at 1960 Eden Park Boulevard, serves students from Dravosburg, McKeesport, South Versailles, Versailles, and Whit ...
(1948) and
Penn State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...
(1953). During college he worked short stints in the steel works at McKeesport. Hoerr served in the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
1953-1955 and was stationed in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. After living for more than three decades in
Teaneck, New Jersey
Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, th ...
, he moved to
Middleborough, Massachusetts
Middleborough (frequently written as Middleboro) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,245 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census.
History
The town was first set ...
The Record (Bergen County)
''The Record'' (also called ''The North Jersey Record'', ''The Bergen Record'', ''The Sunday Record'' (Sunday edition) and formerly ''The Bergen Evening Record'') is a newspaper in New Jersey, United States. Serving Bergen, Essex, Hudson and P ...
'', June 26, 2015. Accessed June 26, 2015. "John Hoerr, a journalist and former Teaneck resident, authored one of the most definitive accounts of the collapse of America's steel industry.... The Hoerrs moved to Middleborough in 2009 after 33 years in Teaneck."
Books
* ''And the Wolf Finally Came: The Decline of the American Steel Industry'', nonfiction (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1988).
* ''We Can't Eat Prestige: The Women Who Organized Harvard'', nonfiction (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1997).
* ''Harry, Tom and Father Rice: Accusation and Betrayal in America's Cold War'', nonfiction (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005).
* ''Monongahela Dusk'', novel (Pittsburgh: Autumn House Press, 2009).
References
Sources
''Contemporary Authors Online''. The Gale Group, 2008.