{{Short description|American journalist, teacher and editor (1929–2025)}} {{notability|Biographies|date=March 2012}}
'''Harvey Aronson''' (May 1929 – September 2, 2025) was an American journalist and journalism teacher, and a ''Newsday'' editor who also wrote or co-wrote several books. He was part of a group of ''Newsday'' reporters involved in writing the bestselling hoax novel ''Naked Came the Stranger'', initially credited to fictional author Penelope Ashe, and published as a parody of commercialized book publishing in general and of novels in the genre of Jacqueline Susann's ''Valley of the Dolls'' in particular.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19690807&id=oJAjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IKEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=748,1309248 "Naked Came the Stranger, but he can afford to dress now"], Associated Press in ''Montreal Gazette'', August 7, 1969, p.22.</ref> Aronson co-edited the project with his colleague, Mike McGrady, who had conceived the idea, and Aronson also wrote a chapter of the book about a character described in a later news article as "Melvin Corby, a meek real-estate lawyer, unsatisfied in his marriage yet incapable of adultery, the only character in the book thus afflicted."<ref>John Woestendiek, [https://www.chicagotribune.com/2004/03/04/the-truths-stranger-than-fiction/ "The truth's stranger than fiction: Newsday staffers wrote fake book to prove that sex sells"], ''Chicago Tribune'', March 4, 2004.</ref> In a ''Life'' magazine article written after the ruse was revealed, Aronson commented that he thought the book had ended up being more comedic than pornographic, and he opined that Susann "writes about sex as if she were a virgin".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=lkwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA69 "Naked truth about the great novel hoax"], ''Life'' magazine, August 22, 1969, pp.69-70.</ref>
Aronson later published his own novel, ''The Golden Shore'' (1982), about the development of Miami Beach, but the book, which Kirkus Reviews called a "routine biz-family-saga",<ref>[https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/harvey-aronson/the-golden-shore/#review Review of ''The Golden Shore'' by Harvey Aronson] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221043/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/harvey-aronson/the-golden-shore/#review |date=2016-03-03 }}, ''Kirkus Reviews'' (accessed March 2, 2012).</ref> did not go beyond a first edition.{{citation needed|date=February 2011}} Among his other books are ''The Defense Never Rests'' (1971), an autobiography of lawyer F. Lee Bailey co-written by Aronson,<ref>Patrick Wall, [https://www.nytimes.com/1972/01/23/archives/the-defense-never-rests-by-f-lee-bailey-with-harvey-aronson-262-pp.html Review of ''The Defense Never Rests'' By F. Lee Bailey with Harvey Aronson], ''The New York Times'', January 23, 1972 (pay site).</ref> and a 1973 book about the killing of Mafia figure Joey Gallo.<ref>[https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/harvey-aronson-2/the-killing-of-joey-gallo/#review Review of ''The Killing of Joey Gallo''] by Harvey Aronson, ''Kirkus Reviews'' (accessed March 2, 2012).</ref>
Aronson was born in May 1929,<ref>John Hanc & Ed Lowe, ''Jones Beach: An Illustrated History'' (Globe Pequot Press, 2007), {{ISBN|978-0-7627-4024-6}}, p. 105. [https://books.google.com/books?id=GkgXff2HNEIC&pg=PA105 Excerpt available] at Google Books.</ref> and grew up in New York City, where his father was a sometime professional boxer who fought under the name "Kid Aron". Aronson attended Syracuse University.<ref>J. Richard Munro, [https://archive.today/20120715164815/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1083435/index.htm "Letter From The Publisher"], ''Sports Illustrated'', March 23, 1970.</ref> He was married to Irene Virag, who was also a ''Newsday'' reporter when they met. Aronson and Virag both became founding members of the faculty of the Stony Brook University School of Journalism when it was established in 2006.<ref>Arielle Dollinger and Priscila Korb, [http://sbpress.com/2012/02/twenty-years-of-news-love-and-coffee/ "Twenty Years of News, Love and Coffee"], ''The Stony Brook Press'', February 7, 2012.</ref> He died on September 2, 2025, at the age of 96.<ref>{{cite news |title=Harvey Aronson, ex-Newsday special projects editor, writing coach, SBU professor, dies at 96 |url=https://www.newsday.com/long-island/obituaries/harvey-aronson-obituary-newsday-bvy5stb9 |access-date=7 September 2025 |publisher=Newsday}}</ref>
== Bibliography == * {{cite book |last1=Aronson |first1=Harvey |last2=McGrady |first2=Mike |title=Establishment of Innocence |date=1976–1977 |publisher=Putnam hardcover 1976, Berkely paper back 1976, Berkely mass-market paperback 1977 |isbn=9780399115400}} * {{cite book |last1=Aronson |first1=Harvey |title=The Defense Never Rests |date=1971 |publisher=Stein and Day |isbn=081281441X}} * {{cite book |last1=Aronson |first1=Harvey |title=Deal |date=1978 |publisher=Ballantine Books |isbn=978-0345253545}} * {{cite book |last1=Aronson |first1=Harvey |title=The killing of Joey Gallo. |date=1973 |publisher=Putnam |location=New York |isbn=0399112111}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120311152013/https://journalism.cc.stonybrook.edu/?p=922 Harvey Aronson bio] at Stony Brook University School of Journalism
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aronson, Harvey}} Category:1929 births Category:2025 deaths Category:Newsday people Category:Stony Brook University faculty Category:Syracuse University alumni category:Jewish American journalists