Rahadyan Timoteo Sastrowardoyo (born March 31, 1963, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

) is a writer, editor and photographer. He is an American of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

n and

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

ancestry. Sastrowardoyo was raised on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

of Manhattan, and attended P.S. 163 and

The Collegiate School ("Unless God, then in vain") nl, Eendracht maakt macht("In unity there is strength") , established = , streetaddress = 301 Freedom Place South , city = New York , state = New ...

as an elementary school student. His tertiary education was at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

and

The New School The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...

Career

Sastrowardoyo began his journalism career as a reporter, copy editor and photographer on his junior high school and high school newspapers in

Brentwood, New York Brentwood is a hamlet in the Town of Islip in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 62,387 at the 2020 Census, making it the most populous in Suffolk County and on all of Long Island outside of New York C ...

. He was editor-in-chief of the Brentwood High School yearbook in 1981, which won honorable mentions from the American Scholastic Press Association and the

Columbia Scholastic Press Association The Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) is an international student press association, founded in 1925, whose goal is to unite student journalists and faculty advisers at schools and colleges through educational conferences, idea exchang ...

. Sastrowardoyo was also news director for WXBA-FM. His first paying job was as an events photographer for the Brentwood school district. He has since dabbled in wedding photography, wedding videography, dance photography, and theatrical photography for Deborah Savadge's Woodstock Theatre Company (based in

New Paltz, New York New Paltz () is an incorporated U.S. town in Ulster County, New York. The population was 14,003 at the 2010 U.S. Census. The town is located in the southeastern part of the county and is south of Kingston. New Paltz contains a village, also wit ...

) and Algonquin Productions After working at

Banque Indosuez Banque Indosuez was a French bank, the product of the 1975 merger of Banque de l'Indochine and Banque de Suez et de l'Union des mines. It was purchased by Crédit Agricole in 1996, and formed the core of what is now Crédit Agricole Corporate an ...

, Dial Germany/Dial Bavaria (a travel wholesaler) and Marubeni America Corporation, Sastrowardoyo was hired as a copyboy 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 ...

'' in the fall of 1987. From 1988 to 2006, he was on the staff of the cultural

news desk A news bureau is an office for gathering or distributing news. Similar terms are used for specialized bureaus, often to indicate a geographic location or scope of coverage: a ‘Tokyo bureau’ refers to a given news operation's office in Tokyo; ' ...

, and named a staff editor in 1999. From March 2006 to December 2009, he worked on the foreign news desk. Sastrowardoyo worked at the ''Timess

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

bureau in November and December 2007. Sastrowardoyo studied acting with Deborah Savadge beginning in the fall of 1989, ostensibly as a means to help him deal with his shyness. It was instrumental in helping him deal with his brother Sabartomo's death a few years previously. He has also studied poetry with

Kimiko Hahn Kimiko Hahn (born July 5, 1955) is an American poet and distinguished professor in the MFA program of Queens College, CUNY. Her works frequently deal with the reinvention of poetic forms and the intersecting of conflicting identities. Biography ...

, Richard Tayson and

Li-Young Lee Li-Young Lee (李立揚, pinyin: Lǐ Lìyáng) (born August 19, 1957) is an American poet. He was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, to Chinese parents. His maternal great-grandfather was Yuan Shikai, China's first Republican President, who attempted ...

; performance with

Beau Sia Beau Sia (, born 1976) is an American Poetry slam, slam poet. Life and career Sia was born in Ohio. He is of Chinese-Filipino descent. Raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Sia discovered spoken word poetry on MTV as a teenager. When not particip ...

and the Asian American troupe Peeling; playwriting with

Julia Cho Julia Cho (born July 5, 1975) is an American playwright and television writer. In March 2020 she was awarded the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize. Select full length plays ''99 Histories'' (2002) ''99 Histories'' is a drama portraying the ...

and

David Henry Hwang David Henry Hwang (born August 11, 1957) is an American playwright, librettist, screenwriter, and theater professor at Columbia University in New York City. He has won three Obie Awards for his plays '' FOB'', '' Golden Child'', and '' Yellow ...

; photography with

Charles Gatewood Charles Robert Gatewood (November 8, 1942 – April 28, 2016) was an American photographer, writer, videographer, artist and educator, who lived and worked in San Francisco, California. Biography Early years Gatewood was born November 8, 1 ...

; dance with Ducky DooLittle and Pamardi Tjiptopradonggo; and writing with

Rachel Kramer Bussel Rachel Kramer Bussel (born 1975) is an author, columnist, and editor, specializing in erotica. She previously studied at the New York University School of Law and earned her bachelor's degree in political science and women's studies from the U ...

and

Paul Levitz Paul Levitz (; born October 21, 1956) is an American comic book writer, editor and executive. The president of DC Comics from 2002–2009, he worked for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles. Along with publisher Jenette Kahn ...

. In 1989 and 1990, Sastrowardoyo was a contributing editor for volumes 7 and 8 of ''Contemporary Theater, Film and Television,'' a reference series published by Gale Research (now known as

Thomson Gale Gale is a global provider of research and digital learning resources. The company is based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, west of Detroit. It has been a division of Cengage since 2007. The company, formerly known as Gale Research and the Gale Gro ...

). In the summer of 1990, Sastrowardoyo and some classmates from Deborah Savadge's acting class (directed by Guy Ventoliere) performed a series of one-act plays, originally performed by the Actors Theatre of Louisville, as a benefit for

Coalition for the Homeless A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

. Sastrowardoyo gave a poetry reading at the

Asian American Writers Workshop The Asian American Writers' Workshop (often abbreviated AAWW) is a nonprofit literary arts organization founded in 1991 to support Asian American writers, literature and community. Cofounders Curtis Chin, Christina Chiu, Marie Lee, Marie Myung-Ok ...

in January 2000. His one-act play, ''Lessons Learned'', was scheduled to be read at AAWW on September 11, 2001, but the events of that day postponed its reading until September 24, 2001. Sastrowardoyo retired from the ''Times'' in 2009.

Personal

Sastrowardoyo is the eldest son of Sumarsongko H. Sastrowardoyo (1929-2018), born in

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...

West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...

, of the Economics and Information staff of the Consulate General of Indonesia, and Teresita M. Sastrowardoyo (1933-2020), born in Maasin, Iloilo, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, an operating room registered nurse. They were married at

Calvary Baptist Church Calvary ( la, Calvariae or ) or Golgotha ( grc-gre, Γολγοθᾶ, ''Golgothâ'') was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where Jesus was said to have been crucified according to the canonical Gospels. Since at least the early mediev ...

in 1962. Sastrowardoyo's middle brother, Sabartomo (1965–1986), died in an accident while a student at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. His youngest brother, Hartriono B. Sastrowardoyo (b. 1969), is a reporter and online producer for the ''

Asbury Park Press The ''Asbury Park Press'' is a daily newspaper in Monmouth and Ocean counties of New Jersey and has the third largest circulation in the state. It has been owned by Gannett since 1997. Its reporting staff has been awarded numerous national hon ...

''. Sastrowardoyo is a nephew of

Soenario Soenario Sastrowardoyo ( EYD: Sunario Sastrowardoyo; 28 August 1902 – 18 May 1997), more commonly known simply as Soenario, was an Indonesian politician, and diplomat, who served as the 7th Foreign Minister of Indonesia, from 1953 until 1 ...

(1902–1997), Indonesia's

minister of foreign affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

from 1953 to 1955; and

Subagio Sastrowardoyo Subagio Sastrowardoyo (1 February 1924 – 18 July 1995) was an Indonesian poet, short-story writer, essayist and literary critic. Born in Madiun, East Java, the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), he studied at Gadjah Mada University, Cornell ...

(1924–1995), a noted poet, writer, essayist and literary critic. He is also a cousin of

Sunaryati Hartono Prof. Dr. Sunaryati Hartono, S.H. (born Carolina Felicita Gerardine Sunaryati Sastrowardoyo; July 7, 1931) is an Indonesian attorney, lawyer, professor of law and government official. She has been vice chairman of the National Ombudsman Commissio ...

(b. 1931) and

Astrid Susanto Prof. Dr. Maria Antonia Astrid Sunarti Susanto (also known as Astrid Susanto-Sunario) -- deputy chairwoman of Commission I of the Indonesian legislature, the People's Representative Council—was born 4 January 1936 in Makassar, South Celebes (now ...

(1936–2006), officials in the Indonesian government; and

Marina Joesoef Marina Joesoef — born Marina Sastrowardoyo March 24, 1959 in Jakarta, Indonesia — is an Indonesian artist. She is a painter having recent exhibitions in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur,

(b. 1959), an Indonesian artist. Sastrowardoyo is a

first cousin once removed Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, " ...

of the Indonesian actress

Dian Sastrowardoyo Dian Paramita Sastrowardoyo (born 16 March 1982) is an Indonesian actress and model of Javanese descent. She made her recognition lead role as Cinta in Indonesian 2001 film ''Ada Apa Dengan Cinta?'', which won her five Best Actress awards. E ...

(b. 1982). His surname is derived from ''shastra'' (Sanskrit, ''writings'') and ''hridaya'' (Sanskrit, ''heart''), so literally means "writings of the heart." His given name reportedly means "of noble blood" or "noble-hearted." His first middle name was after his maternal grandfather, who died in 1952. His paternal grandfather, Sutejo Sastrowardoyo (1878–1967), traced the family's ancestry back to 15th century Java. Sastrowardoyo was raised

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

but left the church in 1978. He became a Muslim convert after the events of

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

, when his former minister in Central Islip, New York opined that God had used Muslims as an instrument of His wrath against a decadent America.

Trivia

* Sastrowardoyo was one of the subjects of a practical joke on April 1, 2001, where his name was put in place of an actor's name in ''The New York Times'' 's database of films. * Sastrowardoyo wears a bracelet on his right wrist in memory of Michael H. Waye, a junior high and high school friend who was killed in the

attacks. * On September 25, 2011, Sastrowardoyo spoke briefly at the memorial service for Nathaniel Rand, a

student who had died in a similar manner to Sastrowardoyo's brother Sabartomo. * Sastrowardoyo was tuckerized as a character in Dayton Ward's ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' novel, ''The Fall: Peaceable Kingdoms,'' published in December 2013.

Bibliography

Journalism

Print * "''Babylon 5'' Enters Its Final Stages." ''The New York Times'', 19 July 1998. * "Writing away for tickets, or trying to get on camera." (sidebar to Matt Lee and Ted Lee's "American Cities: Who Wants to Be in the Audience?") ''The New York Times'', 14 May 2000. * "For Young Viewers: Pooh's New Adventures, in a 100-Gigabyte Wood." ''The New York Times'', 21 January 2001. * Review of ''

Better Luck Tomorrow ''Better Luck Tomorrow'' is a 2002 American crime film, crime-Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Justin Lin. The film is about Asian American overachievers who become bored with their lives and enter a world of petty crime and ma ...

.'' ''Community News'' (Browns Mills, NJ), 2002. Online
"Flashpoints That Define Or Break Apart a Community." Rediff.com, 01 June 1999
Accessed 27 March 2007.

Fandom journalism

Sastrowardoyo has written book reviews, wedding coverage, an obituary, an essay on

and an article on The Explorers Club (co-written with Hartriono B. Sastrowardoyo) for the ''Communiqué'', a publication of

STARFLEET International A Trekkie or Trekker is a fan of the ''Star Trek'' franchise, or of specific television series or films within that franchise. History Many early Trekkies were also fans of ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' (1964–1968), another show with science ...

Photography

* '' Daily Freeman'' (Kingston, NY), 2002. * ''Chronogram Magazine''Chronogram website
/ref> (New Paltz, NY), 2002.

Books

As contributing editor * ''Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television,'' volumes 7 and 8. Detroit: Gale Research, 1989 and 1990.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sastrowardoyo, Rahadyan 1963 births Living people Javanese people Hiligaynon people American editors American photographers American people of Indonesian descent American people of Javanese descent Rahadyan Brentwood High School (Brentwood, New York) alumni New York University alumni The New York Times writers Converts to Islam from Protestantism American writers of Filipino descent American former Protestants Former Baptists