I am so very sorry to report that Jack Rosenthal, my friend and former colleague at The New York Times, died of cancer on Wednesday, August 23. He was 82.
His wife, Holly Russell, says that a celebration of Jack's life will be held at the Harvard Club of New York at 9 a.m. on November 3.
Jack had a distinguished career in journalism: as deputy editor of The Times' editorial page, he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1982 for distinguished editorial writing on poverty, obesity, violence, and immigration. Jack became editorial-page editor shortly thereafter.
He joined The Times in 1969 as the paper's chief urban affairs correspondent, and later became editor of the Sunday Magazine. (Jack was not related to my mentor, the late A. M. Rosenthal, who was executive editor and columnist at the paper.) My prayers for Holly, a sculptress and former advertising executive, who married Jack in 1985.
R.I.P., Jack, you were always a splendid person, always helpful, always thoughtful. I still remember that time when you led a panel of top media people at the 2007 Festival of Thinkers in Abu Dhabi, giving ample time to others to reflect, yet gently guiding the dialogue in a way that was useful to everyone.
Alas, that was the last time we saw each other.