Seymour Topping

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Seymour Topping
Topping at the Reynolds Journalism Institute (2008)
Topping at the Reynolds Journalism Institute (2008)
BornSeymour Topolksy
(1921-12-11)December 11, 1921
Harlem, New York City, United States
DiedNovember 8, 2020(2020-11-08) (aged 98)
White Plains, New York, United States
OccupationJournalist, author, and professor
LanguageEnglish
Alma materUniversity of Missouri School of Journalism
Notable worksOn the Front Lines of the Cold War
Journey Between Two Chinas
SpouseAudrey Ronning Topping
Children5

Seymour Topping (December 11, 1921 – November 8, 2020) was an American journalist. He was best known for his work as a foreign correspondent focusing on wars in China, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, and the Cold War in Europe.

From 1969 to 1986, he was the second senior-most editor at The New York Times. He was the San Paolo Professor Emeritus of International Journalism at Columbia University. He was administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes from 1993 to 2002.

Topping died on November 8, 2020 in White Plains, New York, at the age of 98 from a stroke.[1]

Bibliography[change | change source]

Topping was the author of the following books:

  • 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. ISBN 9780807137307[2]
  • Journey Between Two Chinas (1972). New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 9780060143299[3]
  • The Peking Letter: A Novel of the Chinese Civil War (1999) New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN 9781891620355[4]
  • Fatal Crossroads: A Novel of Vietnam 1945 (based partly on the experiences of OSS officer A. Peter Dewey) (2005) White Plains: Signature Books. ISBN 978-1891936692[5]

Articles by Topping and his wife were included in The New York Times Report from Red China (New York: Quadrangle Books, 1971).[6]

References[change | change source]

  1. McFadden, Robert D. (8 November 2020). "Seymour Topping, Former Times Journalist and Eyewitness to History, Dies at 98". New York Times. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  2. "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". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  3. "Journey between two Chinas". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  4. "The Peking letter : a novel of the Chinese civil war". Library of Congress. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  5. Topping, Seymour (2005). Fatal Crossroads: A novel of Vietnam, 1945. White Plains, NY: Signature Books. ISBN 978-1891936692. OCLC 56599576.
  6. Durdin, Tillman; Reston, James; Topping, Seymour (1971). The New York Times Report from Red China. Avon.

Other websites[change | change source]