Peter H. Wyden (October 2, 1923 – June 27, 1998) was an American journalist and writer.

Early life

Wyden was born Peter Weidenreich, in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

to a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish family. His mother, Helen (née Silberstein), was a concert singer, and his father, Erich Weidenreich, was a businessman.

Franz Weidenreich Franz Weidenreich (7 June 1873 – 11 July 1948) was a Jewish German anatomist and physical anthropology, physical anthropologist who studied evolution. Life and career Weidenreich studied at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Universität in Strasbourg whe ...

, German anatomist and physical anthropologist, was one of his uncles. Wyden attended the Goldschmidt School until he left

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

for the United States in 1937. After studying at

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

, he served with 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 ...

Psychological Warfare Division The Psychological Warfare Division of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (PWD/SHAEF or SHAEF/PWD) was a joint Anglo-American organization set-up in World War II tasked with conducting (predominantly) white tactical psychological war ...

in Europe 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 opposin ...

."About the Author" bio on the dustjacket of ''Bay of Pigs, The Untold Story'', Simon and Schuster, 1979. His training at

Camp Ritchie Fort Ritchie at Cascade, Maryland was a military installation southwest of Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania and southeast of Waynesboro in the area of South Mountain. Following the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, it closed in 19 ...

places him among the ranks of the

Ritchie Boys The Ritchie Boys were a special collection of soldiers, with sizable numbers of German-Austrian recruits, of Military Intelligence Service officers and enlisted men of World War II who were trained at Camp Ritchie in Washington County, Maryland. ...

, a group of Military Intelligence Officers who used their language skills to obtain intel in Europe. In 2021, Peter's son Ron Wyden, a U.S. Senator, was instrumental in creating a senate resolution recognizing the Ritchie Boys for their efforts.

Career

After the war, Wyden began a career in journalism, during which he worked as a reporter for ''

The Wichita Eagle ''The Wichita Eagle'' is a daily newspaper published in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is owned by The McClatchy Company and is the largest newspaper in Wichita and the surrounding area. History Origins In 1870, ''The Vidette'' was the fi ...

'', a feature writer for the ''

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-Dem ...

'', Washington correspondent for ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' magazine, a contributing editor for ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

'' in Chicago and San Francisco, articles editor for ''

McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. It was established as a small-for ...

'', and executive editor for ''

Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States. In 18 ...

''. Wyden authored or coauthored nine books, and numerous articles that appeared in major magazines. In 1969, he co-authored with his wife a book on homosexuality entitled '' Growing Up Straight''; the book summed up research on the topic, which suggested homosexuality could be prevented with a close paternal relationship in childhood. His last book, published in 1998, was about schizophrenia; it was based on his personal experience as his son Jeff suffered from the mental disorder. In 1970, Wyden became a book publisher in New York City and

Ridgefield, Connecticut Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York ...

Personal life and death

Wyden was married three times. He had two sons, including

Ron Wyden Ronald Lee Wyden (; born May 3, 1949) is an American politician and retired educator serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Oregon, a seat he has held since 1996 United Stat ...

, who became a United States senator. He died on June 27, 1998 in Danbury, Connecticut.

Works

* ''Suburbia's Coddled Kids''. 1962. New Jersey: Doubleday & Company, Inc. * ''The Overweight Society.'' 1965. New York: Pocket Books. * * ''Bay of Pigs – The Untold Story''. 1979. New York: Simon and Schuster. * ''The Passionate War: The Narrative History of the Spanish Civil War''. 1983. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1983 * ''Day One: Before Hiroshima and After''. 1985. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1984 * ''Stella: One Woman's True Tale of Evil, Betrayal, and Survival in Hitler's Germany''. Anchor Books, 1993. * ''Wall: The Inside Story of Divided Berlin''. 1989. Simon and Schuster. *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyden, Peter 1923 births 1998 deaths American male journalists American people of German-Jewish descent Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Jewish American writers Writers from Berlin City University of New York alumni United States Army personnel of World War II St. Louis Post-Dispatch people Newsweek people The Saturday Evening Post people Ladies' Home Journal German male writers 20th-century American writers 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American Jews