Edwin O. Guthman (August 11, 1919 - August 31, 2008) was a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and university professor.
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Guthman was born in Seattle, Washington, graduating from the University of Washington in 1941.[1] He entered the Army in 1942. During World War II, he served as an infantry regiment reconnaissance platoon leader in both North Africa and Italy. In 1946, he was discharged as a captain. During his tour, he was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart.[2]
He was a reporter for the Seattle Star (1941–1947), and a reporter for The Seattle Times[1] (1947–1961).[3] While at the Seattle Times, he won that paper's first Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 1950. His articles proved that the Washington State Un-American Activities Committee subverted evidence that cleared University of Washington professor Melvin Rader of false charges of being a Communist.[1][4]
In 1961, he was tapped by Attorney General Robert Kennedy to be his press secretary. He later served Kennedy in a similar position for one year when RFK became U.S. Senator from New York in 1965. As a result of his work with Kennedy, he was third on Nixon's Enemies List.[1][4]
He was the national editor for the Los Angeles Times from 1965 to 1977[1] and then the editorial page editor for The Philadelphia Inquirer (1977–1987).[5]
He was a senior lecturer at the USC Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, where he had been a professor since 1987. He retired in 2007.[6][7]
Guthman died August 31, 2008 at his home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, at the age of 89. He suffered from amyloidosis, a rare disease that attacks the internal organs.[8]