Seymour Topping
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Seymour Topping (December 11, 1921November 8, 2020) was an American journalist best known for his work as a foreign correspondent covering wars in China,
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
,
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
, Laos, and
Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...
, and the Cold War in Europe. From 1969 to 1986, he was the second senior-most 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 d ...
''. At the time of his death, he was the
San Paolo San Paolo (Italian for "Saint Paul") is a ''comune'' in the Province of Brescia The Province of Brescia ( it, provincia di Brescia; Brescian: ) is a Province in the Lombardy administrative region of northern Italy. It has a population of some ...
Professor Emeritus of International Journalism at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, where he also served as administrator of the
Pulitzer Prizes 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 ...
from 1993 to 2002.


Early life

Topping was born as Seymour Topolsky on December 11, 1921, in
Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...
. His father, Joseph, and mother, Anna (Seidman), were Russian Jewish immigrants. He grew up in
Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
and
The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
and graduated from
Evander Childs High School Evander is a masculine given name. It is an anglicization of the Greek name Εὔανδρος (lit. "good man", Latinized ''Evandrus''). It has also been adopted as an anglicization of the Gaelic name Iomhar (the Gaelic variant of the name Ivor ...
in the latter borough in 1939. He went on to receive his undergraduate degree in journalism from the
University of Missouri School of Journalism The Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia is one of the oldest formal journalism schools in the world. The school provides academic education and practical training in all areas of journalism and strategic commu ...
in 1943.


Career

Topping was a member of the
Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in al ...
and served as a
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
infantry officer in 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 ...
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 this stint with the army, he joined the
International News Service The International News Service (INS) was a U.S.-based news agency (newswire) founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.
in
Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
, and was assigned to China to cover the civil war in that region. He went on to join 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 ...
in 1948 as a foreign correspondent in China and Southeast Asia. In 1949, while covering the civil war, he was taken a prisoner by the advancing communist forces in
Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
and was released when the nationalist forces surrendered. In the 1950s, he reported on the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, and also was the first U.S. correspondent in Vietnam since
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 ...
, where he covered the French colonial war against the communist forces led by
Ho Chi Minh (: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as (' Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), (' Old father of the people') and by other aliases, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. He served as P ...
.   He joined ''
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 ...
'' in 1959. Over the next 34 years, he held a variety of positions, including metropolitan reporter,
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
and
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
bureau chief, foreign editor, assistant managing editor (1969–1976), deputy managing editor (1976), and managing editor (1977–1986). From 1969 onward, he was noted for being second only to executive editor A. M. Rosenthal. His partnership with Rosenthal was credited with many innovations at the newspaper, including the introduction of feature sections and magazine supplements, facilitating unprecedented commercial success. Following a reorganization of the company by
Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Sr. (February 5, 1926 – September 29, 2012) was an American publisher and a businessman. Born into a prominent media and publishing family, Sulzberger became publisher of ''The New York Times'' in 1963 and chairman of t ...
in 1985, Topping became director of editorial development for
The New York Times Company The New York Times Company is an American mass media company that publishes ''The New York Times''. Its headquarters are in Manhattan, New York City. History The company was founded by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones in New York City. ...
in 1987. In this position, his mandate was to focus on improving the journalistic quality of the then 32 regional associate newspapers owned by the Times Company. During Topping's time as the Moscow bureau chief, he covered the U-2 spy incident (1960), the
Sino-Soviet split The Sino-Soviet split was the breaking of political relations between the China, People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union caused by Doctrine, doctrinal divergences that arose from their different interpretations and practical applications ...
(early 1960s), the
Soviet space program The Soviet space program (russian: Космическая программа СССР, Kosmicheskaya programma SSSR) was the national space program of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), active from 1955 until the dissoluti ...
(early 1960s), and the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962). Later, as Southeast Asian bureau chief from 1963 to 1966, he covered the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
, the Laotian Civil War, and the
Cambodian Civil War The Cambodian Civil War ( km, សង្គ្រាមស៊ីវិលកម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ) was a civil war in Cambodia fought between the forces of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (known as the Khmer Rouge, supported by North Vi ...
. Some of the key events that he covered therein include; the Chinese Revolution, the
First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...
, and the Cold War in Europe. In 1993, he left ''The New York Times'' to join the Pulitzer Prize Board as its secretary and administrator. He held this position until his retirement in 2002. He also taught at the
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism s ...
as the San Paolo Professor of International Journalism from 1994 to 2002. Topping served as the president of Emeritus Professors at Columbia, president of the
American Society of Newspaper Editors The American Society of News Editors (ASNE) was a membership organization for editors, producers or directors in charge of journalistic organizations or departments, deans or faculty at university journalism schools, and leaders and faculty of ...
(1992–1993), president of the International Advisory Board of the School of Journalism at
Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Projec ...
, and chairman of the ASNE's Committee on International Communication. He was also a member of the National Committee on United States–China Relations, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Asia Society, and the Century Association. ''New York Times'' journalist Robert D. McFadden stated that Topping was "one of the most accomplished foreign correspondents of his generation and a newsroom leader under the renowned executive editor A. M. Rosenthal." John Daniszewski of the Associated Press described Topping as "among the most accomplished foreign correspondents of his generation for the Associated Press and ''The New York Times''."


Personal life

He was married to photojournalist,
documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
maker, and
author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
Audrey Ronning Topping (the daughter of Canadian diplomat Chester Ronning) on November 10, 1948; they had five children. From 1967 until his death, they lived in
Scarsdale, New York Scarsdale is a town and village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The Town of Scarsdale is coextensive with the Village of Scarsdale, but the community has opted to operate solely with a village government, one of several village ...
. One of their daughters, Susan, died of cancer in October 2015. Topping died on November 8, 2020, in
White Plains, New York (Always Faithful) , image_seal = WhitePlainsSeal.png , seal_link = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = U.S. state, State , su ...
, at age 98, from a stroke.


Works

Topping was the author of: * ''On the Front Lines of the Cold War: An American Correspondent's Journal from the Chinese Civil War to the Cuban Missile Crisis and Vietnam'' (2010). Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. * ''Journey Between Two Chinas'' (1972). New York: Harper & Row. * ''The Peking Letter: A Novel of the Chinese Civil War'' (1999). New York: PublicAffairs. * ''Fatal Crossroads: A Novel of Vietnam 1945'' (based partly on the experiences of OSS officer A. Peter Dewey) (2005). White Plains: Signature Books. Articles by Topping and his wife were included in ''The New York Times Report from Red China'' (New York: Quadrangle Books, 1971).


References


External links


''Missouri School of Journalism – Seymour Topping''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Topping, Seymour 1921 births 2020 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II American expatriates in the Philippines American expatriates in China American expatriates in South Korea American expatriates in Laos American expatriates in Vietnam American expatriates in the Soviet Union 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers American male journalists American people of Russian-Jewish descent Columbia University faculty Jewish American journalists Military personnel from New York City Missouri School of Journalism alumni People from Harlem People from New York City People from Scarsdale, New York The New York Times editors Writers from Manhattan 21st-century American Jews