Talk:Ben Hecht

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I'm not an expert on the life of Ben Hecht, but do collect and read his books and about his life as I think he was an incredible writer and screenwriter. He did support Jabotinsky and the Irgun, but not because they were on the right, but because they were taking the more militant action in defense of Jewry which he favored. He opposed the leaders of the official Zionist movement, as did many on the left. In fact, many of the leaders and members of the subsequent Israeli Communist Party had been involved in the Irgun. Thus, I rest my case that one should not assume that he himself was on the right.

My reading leads me to conclude that he was far too individualist and irreverent to fit into the organized left. But he was an elogquent opponent of both Anti-Communist and Communist censorship. He was a remarkable observer of the foibles and frailities and courage and cowardice (you name it, he pegged it) of people he had known from all sides of the political spectrum, but of course he knew more on the left. Take his account of Maxwell Bodenheim on pp. 216-217 in his autobiography, Child of the Century.

In a century of anti-Semitism, Hecht's vice wasn't rightism, it was at most a visceral anti-German prejudice so blatant as to make one wonder if it was not a device to enhance his denunciation of anti-Semitism. Few wrote so convincingly of anti-Semitism at the individual level and few fought it so uncompromisingly at the political level.

Michael A. Dover

[edit] Merge from Jenny Hecht

Please merge any relevant content from Jenny Hecht per Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Jenny Hecht. Thanks. —Quarl ^(talk) 2007-01-01 04:25Z

Is this the same Hecht who wrote the famous Readers Digest article in 1942/43 that predicted that 6,000,000 Jews were being/goinr to be killed? 159.105.80.141 13:56, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

That's the one. His book "1001 Afternoons in New York" has a few such essays from that period (published at the start of the war) along with other amazing pieces on a wide variety of subjects. More directed than those though would be his book, "Guide for the Bedevilled" which he wrote during the war and where he describes a world and a Jewish "leadership" practically identical to the farsighted one we're blessed with now. mnuez www.mnuez.blogspot.com

It is interesting to read Hechts Child of the Century for his take on the Holocaust. He also describes his interactions with gangster Mickey Cohen when they collaborated to raise money for Israel.

Hecht had another daughter, Edwina Armstrong by his first wife. She was born in 1918 and may still be alive.Jrm2007 11:07, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

At one point I looked into that and, to the best of my recollection, what sources I found indicated that she had already passed on. I recall the sources having some credibility but because I don't recall exactly from whom I had heard this I still hope that it isn't true. www.mnuez.blogspot.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.13.148.23 (talk) 09:32, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

  I wrote to some site, snicksnee press I think, which is devoted to Ben Hecht, and asked about Edwina Armstrong. For some reason, they refused to tell me, asking me why I was interested.--Jrm2007 (talk) 15:08, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

I thought Ben Hecht also 'contributed' to the autobiography of Marilyn Monroe. Is there any mention of that anywhere besides on the cover of the book?

[edit] Quote attributed to him

"We are going to make sure that there is high-speed broadband available to everyone, and affordable to people historically kept out of it. It means they have not just access, but can also understand how to buy low-cost, affordable computers."

Did he say that? When and why did he say that?

Here is where I found the quote:http://thinkexist.com/quotes/ben_hecht/3.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.12.53.9 (talk) 10:31, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

A little research (which should have seemed essential in crediting a quote about Internet accessibility to an individual who died in 1964), reveals that the president and COO of a company called One Economy Corp., which advocates technological accessibility for low-income and Third World populations. Unfortunately, the site you've cited above has several quotes attributed to this Hecht. PacificBoy 05:33, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Ragged Stranger

Ben Hecht's claim to have broken the Wanderer/Ragged Stranger murder mystery is at best exaggerated. Further there is no evidence that Lt. Wanderer killed so he could be with his homosexual lover "James." In fact, letters to 16-year-old Julia Schmitt were found in the Wanderer home -- not letters to James.

The weapons used in the killing were traced by Chicago detectives through the Colt Arms Company not by Hecht. There was no testimony at either of Wanderer's 2 trials about "James."

I'd edit the entry to reflect this, but it's not that important to me.

Marklemagne (talk) 19:54, 4 April 2008 (UTC)