{{Short description|American journalist}} {{Infobox writer | name = Jonathan Kwitny | image = File:Kwitny.jpg | birth_date = {{Birth date|1941|03|23|df=y}} | birth_place = Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1998|11|26|1941|03|23|df=y}} | death_place = New York City, New York | resting_place = Journalist | nationality = American | alma_mater = New York University | subject = Non-fiction | movement = | spouse = | partner = }}
'''Jonathan Kwitny''' (March 23, 1941 – November 26, 1998) was an American investigative journalist.
==Biography== Kwitny was born in Indianapolis.<ref name="obit1">{{Cite news| pages = C16| last = Saxon| first = Wolfgang| title = Jonathan Kwitny, 57, Author And Prize-Winning Reporter| work = The New York Times| date = November 28, 1998}}[https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/28/us/jonathan-kwitny-57-author-and-prize-winning-reporter.html] </ref> He earned a bachelor's degree in journalism at the University of Missouri's School of Journalism in 1962, and a master's degree in history at New York University in 1964.<ref name="obit1"/> Kwitny was married twice. His first wife, Martha Kaplan, a deputy New Jersey state attorney general, with whom he had two daughters, died in 1978.<ref name="obit1"/> His second wife was the poet Wendy Wood Kwitny, with whom he had two sons.<ref name="obit1"/> Jonathan Kwitny died of stomach cancer in 1998.<ref name="obit1"/>
His awards included the George Polk Award for television investigative reporting and the University of Missouri School of Journalism's honor medal for career achievement. Kwitny was also the author of several books on subjects which ranged from the Nugan Hand Bank scandal to a biography of Pope John Paul II.
==Career== Kwitny's career in journalism began as a reporter for the Perth Amboy ''News Tribune'' in 1963.<ref>{{Cite journal| volume = 22| issue = 1| pages = 9–10| last = Weinberg| first = Steve| title = Guts and accuracy--the Kwitny trademarks|journal = The IRE Journal |publisher=Investigative Reporters and Editors| date = February 1999}}[https://web.archive.org/web/20170830145209/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-39413116.html]</ref> In 1971 he joined ''The Wall Street Journal'', where his articles frequently appeared as front-page features.<ref name="obit1" /> In 1987, together with producer Tom Naughton, Kwitny created a half-hour news program for New York's WNYC-TV called ''The Kwitny Report''.<ref>{{Cite news| page = B11| last = Kubasik| first = Ben| title = TV Spots| work = Newsday| location = Long Island, NY| date = October 14, 1987}}</ref> The show was carried on the PBS network and won the Polk Award for television investigative reporting in 1989,<ref>{{Cite web| title = 1989 George Polk Award Winners| work = George Polk Awards: Past Winners | accessdate = 2015-04-21| url = http://www.liu.edu/Polk/Articles/Past-Winners#1989}}</ref> but was canceled that same year.<ref>{{Cite news|page = C22| last = Gerard| first = Jeremy| title = Dinkins Appoints a New Head of WNYC| work = The New York Times| date = March 8, 1990}}[https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/08/arts/dinkins-appoints-a-new-head-of-wnyc.html]</ref> At the time of his death, he was working for the Gannett newspaper company.<ref name="obit1"/>
Kwitny was the author of a number of non-fiction books, including a biography of Pope John Paul II. When Kwitny met John Paul in the Vatican for a private audience in 1998, the Pope's first comment to him was, "I have read your book."<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/dispatches/features/1998/my_visit_with_the_pope/_2.html|title=My Visit With the Pope|author=Kwitny, Jonathan|journal=Slate |date=15 May 1998 |publisher=Slate Magazine|accessdate=May 14, 2012}}</ref> He contributed the introduction to a 1993 expanded and revised edition of ''The Hoffa Wars'' by Dan E. Moldea.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kwitny |first1=Jonathan |chapter=Introduction |title=The Hoffa Wars: Teamsters, Rebels, Politicians, and the Mob |date=1993 |publisher=SPI Books}}</ref>
==Works== ===Books=== * ''The Mullendore Murder Case'' (1974). On the murder of Oklahoma rancher E.C. Mullendore III. * ''Shakedown'' (1977). A novel. * ''Vicious Circles: The Mafia in the Marketplace'' (1979). On Mafia involvement in white-collar crime. [https://archive.org/details/JonathanKwitny_201802 Extract] via FBI. * ''Endless Enemies: The Making of an Unfriendly World'' (1984). On U.S. foreign policy. * [https://archive.org/download/jonathan-kwitny-the-crimes-of-patriots-a-true-tale-of-dope-dirty-money-and-the-c/Jonathan%20Kwitny%20-%20The%20Crimes%20of%20Patriots_%20A%20True%20Tale%20of%20Dope%2C%20Dirty%20Money%2C%20and%20the%20CIA%20%281988%2C%20Touchstone%20Books%29%20-%20libgen.lc.pdf ''The Crimes of Patriots: A True Story of Dope, Dirty Money, and the CIA''] (1988). On the Nugan Hand Bank scandal. * ''Acceptable Risks'' (1992). On unapproved treatments for AIDS. * ''The Super Swindlers: The Incredible Record of America's Greatest Financial Scams'' (1994) ** An update of ''The Fountain Pen Conspiracy'' (1973) * ''Man of the Century: The Life and Times of Pope John Paul II'' (1997). {{ISBN|978-0805026887}}.
===Introductions=== * {{cite book |title=The Hoffa Wars: Teamsters, Rebels, Politicians and the Mob |chapter=Introduction |publisher=SPI Books |date=1993 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/12-the-hoffa-wars-the-rise-and-fa-dan-e.-moldea/page/n9/mode/2up |first=Dan E.|last= Moldea |author-link=Dan Moldea |isbn= 978-1561712007}}
===Book reviews=== * [https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP90-00965R000403630015-3.pdf "Reinvestigating Watergate: The Elusive Glow of Truth."] Review of ''Secret Agenda'', by Jim Hougan. ''Wall Street Journal'' (Jan. 3, 1985), [https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP90-00965R000403630015-3.pdf p. 9.]
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/pope/communism/ "John Paul II & the Fall of Communism,"] by Jane Barnes & Helen Whitney. PBS ''Frontline'' (Sep. 1999). Critical of ''Man of the Century''. * [http://www.consortiumnews.com/archive/story39.html "PBS: The Decline & Fall of 'Public' Broadcasting,"] by Tara Gadomski and Esben Kjaer. ''Consortium News''. On the cancellation of ''The Kwitny Report''.
==External links== * [https://spartacus-educational.com/JFKkwitny.htm Jonathan Kwitny] at Spartacus Educational * Personal file at the FBI via Internet Archive
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwitny, Jonathan}} Category:1941 births Category:1998 deaths Category:20th-century American journalists Category:American investigative journalists Category:The Wall Street Journal people Category:Writers from Indianapolis Category:Missouri School of Journalism alumni Category:New York University alumni Category:George Polk Award recipients Category:Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers Category:20th-century American male writers Category:20th-century American male journalists