BLIVEN, Bruce, Jr. 1916-2002

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born January 31, 1916, in Los Angeles, CA; died January 2, 2002, in New York, NY. Writer. Bliven was a respected nonfiction author who wrote a number of popular history books about New York City and state. A 1937 graduate of Harvard University, he was also the son of the managing editor of the New Republic. He began his career as a writer and editor for magazines and newspapers, including the New Yorker, New York Post, New Republic, and England's Manchester Guardian during the 1930s. He later became a freelance writer. Bliven's first book was a history of the typewriter, The Wonderful Writing Machine, published in 1954. His focus then moved on to writing books on military history—Bliven was a U.S. Army captain who served during World War II and took part in D-Day—and the history of New York state, where he lived most of his life. Several of these books, including The Story of D-Day, June 6, 1944 (1956), The American Revolution (1958), From Pearl Harbor to Okinawa (1960), and From Casablanca to Berlin (1965), were written for children. His other books are for adults and include Battle for Manhattan (1956), Under the Guns: New York 1775-1776 (1972), The Finishing Touch (1978), and New York: A History (1981).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

BOOKS

Who's Who in America, 55th edition, Marquis (New Providence, NJ), 2001.

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, January 16, 2002, p. B11.

New York Times, January 14, 2002, p. A14.

Washington Post, January 16, 2002, p. B8.