John L. Hess (December 27, 1917 – January 21, 2005) was a prominent American
investigative journalist
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...
who worked for many years at ''
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 d ...
''. He left the ''Times'' in 1978 and wrote a memoir about his years there, ''My Times: A Memoir of Dissent''.
Biography
Hess was born in New York City, and studied history at
City College of New York. He began in
journalism
Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...
with the ''Bisbee Daily Review'' in
Bisbee, Arizona
Bisbee is a city in and the county seat of Cochise County in southeastern Arizona, United States. It is southeast of Tucson and north of the Mexican border. According to the 2020 census, the population of the town was 4,923, down from 5,575 ...
, a town controlled by the
Phelps Dodge
Phelps Dodge Corporation was an American mining company founded in 1834 as an import-export firm by Anson Greene Phelps and his two sons-in-law William Earle Dodge, Sr. and Daniel James. The latter two ran Phelps, James & Co., the part of the o ...
copper company, but he left the newspaper — also owned by
Phelps Dodge
Phelps Dodge Corporation was an American mining company founded in 1834 as an import-export firm by Anson Greene Phelps and his two sons-in-law William Earle Dodge, Sr. and Daniel James. The latter two ran Phelps, James & Co., the part of the o ...
— when it interfered with his reporting. He served in the
United States Merchant Marine
United States Merchant Marines are United States civilian mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of the government and private sectors, an ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
After jobs with
United Press
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 20t ...
, the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
, ''
New York Daily News'', and ''
The New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'', Hess started working at the ''Times'' in 1954; first on the foreign copy desk, later becoming a night-shift reporter. In 1964, he moved to Paris to help start a European edition of the ''
International Herald Tribune''.
He returned to New York City in 1972 and was briefly the ''Times food editor. Hess hated the term "gourmet" because he believed that those who used the term sought or advertised prestige and price rather than quality and taste. He once gave the neighborhood of
Chinatown four stars - the only four stars he awarded while the Times food editor. ''The Taste of America'', which he co-wrote with his wife
Karen Hess, excoriated American cooking and singled out such celebrity
chefs as
Julia Child and
Craig Claiborne
Craig Claiborne (September 4, 1920 January 22, 2000) was an American restaurant critic, food journalist and book author. A long-time food editor and restaurant critic for ''The New York Times'', he was also the author of numerous cookbooks and ...
as contributing to the decline of the American palate.
In 1974, he won a citation from the
US Department of Health, Education and Welfare for an investigation into corrupt nursing home operators.
After his retirement, Hess contributed regularly to ''
The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
'', ''
CounterPunch
''CounterPunch'' is a left-wing online magazine. Content includes a free section published five days a week as well as a subscriber-only area called CounterPunch+, where original articles are published weekly. ''CounterPunch'' is based in the Unit ...
'' and ''
Extra!'', among other publications, in addition to work in television and radio journalism. He also served as media watchdog for
WBAI
WBAI (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoint, and eclectic music. ...
, the New York City listener-sponsored radio station.
In addition to his memoirs, Hess also published several other books: ''Vanishing France'', ''The Case for De Gaulle'', and ''The Grand Acquisitors'', about the business of art museums.
John Hess died in Manhattan on January 21, 2005, of pneumonia at the age of 87.
John Hess, 87, Journalist and Food Critic, Dies
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References
External links
''John L. Hess: Dissents''
John L. Hess's blog
''Extra!'' articles by John L. Hess
"John L. Hess and His Times,"
by Alexander Zaitchik, ''New York Press'', January 26, 2005 (obituary)
by Louis Proyect, ''Swans'', January 31, 2005 (review)
''The New York Times'', February 14, 2005 (correction to obituary)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hess, John L.
1917 births
2005 deaths
American male journalists
20th-century American journalists
American food writers
American sailors
City College of New York alumni