Sylvan Fox (June 2, 1928 – December 22, 2007) was an American journalist who won a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

. He worked as a reporter in upstate

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

before he came to the

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 ...

-based ''World-Telegram'' newspaper. He wrote one of the first books critical of the 1964 report by the

Warren Commission The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the assassination of United States Pr ...

on the assassination of President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

, ''The Unanswered Questions about the Kennedy Assassination''. From 1967 to 1973, he worked as a reporter and editor 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 ...

'', including a stint as the

Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

bureau chief in 1973. He went on to spend 15 years at ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

'', where he was editorial page editor from 1979 to 1988. Fox was a reporter at ''The New York World-Telegram and Sun'' on March 1, 1962, when he was part of a team assigned to cover an airplane crash on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

that killed all 95 passengers. He worked the facts provided by other reporters on the scene and delivered an article within thirty minutes of the accident. He rewrote the article for seven editions of the paper, adding new details as they came in. Within 90 minutes of the crash, he had produced a 3,000-word story. The next year he shared with colleagues Anthony Shannon and William Longgood the

Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, Edition Time The Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting is a Pulitzer Prize awarded for a distinguished example of breaking news, local reporting on news of the moment. It has been awarded since 1953 under several names: *From 1953 to 1963: Pulitzer Priz ...

— referring to work under pressure of a deadline, a predecessor of the Breaking News Pulitzer. Fox grew up in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. He was a classically trained pianist and spent four years at the

Juilliard School of Music The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

, but left without a degree because of his decision to change his major from piano to musical composition. There he met Gloria Endleman, a fellow piano student, who became his wife and who survives him. Fox graduated from

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

with a degree in philosophy, then earned a master's degree in

musicology Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. Fox was a visiting professor at Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus in 1967 and 1968, where he taught journalism courses.''The Sound'', LIU's yearbook (1967, 1968) He died, aged 79, in

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 ...

's Medical Center from complications from pneumonia.

References

''Newsday'' obituary

External links

* *

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Catalog Records: ''The Unanswered Questions about President Kennedy's Assassination'
(New York: Award Books, 1965)(London: Mayflower, 1966)
1928 births 2007 deaths American male journalists Brooklyn College alumni Newsday people Musicians from Brooklyn University of California, Berkeley alumni Deaths from pneumonia in New York City Place of death missing Place of birth missing 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American journalists American male pianists 20th-century American male musicians Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting winners {{US-journalist-1920s-stub