CORRECTION APPENDED

David L. Halberstam ’55—Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of over twenty books—was killed in a car crash south of San Francisco on April 23, 2004 while riding in the passenger seat to conduct an interview for his new book. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to San Mateo County Coroner Robert J. Foucrault. He was 73. [SEE CORRECTION BELOW]

“It’s obvious that he was probably the greatest journalist of his generation. He had a core integrity that gave him credibility and power; whether he was writing about basketball or Vietnam it carried an enormous amount of weight,” said Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist J. Anthony Lewis ’48, a former Crimson managing editor. “He was a sweet man—loyal, kind, thoughtful. I just didn’t know anybody who is a better representation of journalism.”

Born April 10, 1934 in the Bronx, N.Y., Halberstam followed his brother Michael to Harvard in 1951 and joined the paper that year, eventually rising through the ranks to reach the position of managing editor his junior year.

“He was just raw energy; you just saw the man in constant motion. I picture him at one or two in the morning looking over the last proofs of the paper before they went to print,” said Arthur J. Langguth Jr. ’55, who was president of The Crimson when Halberstam was managing editor. “He was such a newsman that if it came to a choice between giving the paper all he had and keeping up with his work in his classes, his coursework would suffer.”

Even as an undergraduate, Halberstam’s interests could not be confined to any one subject. He wrote stories on a broad variety of topics from the Emmett Till case to Harvard football matches.

Upon graduation, Halberstam accepted a low-paying job as a staff writer for the Daily Times Leader in Mississippi and left Harvard to journey South and cover race relations.

Halberstam’s time with the Times Leader ended abruptly when he was fired for his coverage of the Civil Rights movement after only one year, according to his wife, Jean Halberstam. He went on to work at the Nashville Tennessean, a job which his wife said he loved.

Halberstam eventually left the Tennessean to take a job with The New York Times. After serving as a foreign correspondent in Africa, Halberstam was sent to Vietnam to cover the ongoing conflict, making him one of the first full-time Western newspaper journalists working in the country. His coverage of the war and the overthrow of the Diem government won him the 1964 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting. But this coverage also drew death threats from those opposed to his unflattering depictions of American involvement in Vietnam.

From his experiences during the war, Halberstam wrote what is considered one of his greatest works, “The Best and the Brightest.” More than 20 books followed, with his most recent, “The Coldest Winter,” a book about the Korean war, due out this upcoming fall.

“He certainly was one of the greatest writers of 20th century,” said Phillip M. Cronin ’53, a former president of The Crimson, “and I can say that because I have read everything that he has ever written.” Halberstam had just finished the last proofs of this book before April’s car crash, according to his wife.

CORRECTION: Due to an editing error, the June 6 obituary of David L. Halberstam '55 incorrectly stated that Halberstam was killed in a car crash on April 23, 2004. In fact, the crash occurred on April 23, 2007.