Myerson, Allen R(euben) 1955-2002

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MYERSON, Allen R(euben) 1955-2002

PERSONAL: Born April 13, 1955, in New York, NY; died of an apparent suicide August 22, 2002, in New York, NY; son of Samuel Isidore and Natalie Blanche (Levine) Myerson. Education: Harvard University, B.A. (cum laude), 1978.

CAREER: Journalist. Globe Times, Bethlehem, PA, staff writer, 1978-81; Lexington Herald, Lexington, KY, state government writer, 1981-82; Dallas Morning News, Dallas, TX, city hall reporter, 1982-85; Georgia Trend, Atlanta Georgia, staff writer, beginning 1985; New York Times, New York, NY, assistant editor of financial pages.

AWARDS, HONORS: Mott Award, Education Writers Association, 1980; Best Investigative Series award, Pennsylvania Society of Newspaper Editors, 1980; named to Honorable Order of Kentucky College, 1982; Best Column Award, Association of Area Business Publishers, 1986.

WRITINGS:

(Editor) The New Rules of Personal Investing: The Experts' Guide to Prospering in a Changing Economy, Times Books/Henry Holt (New York, NY), 2002.

Contributor to periodicals, including the Los Angeles Times and Philadelphia Inquirer, and to United Press International.

SIDELIGHTS: Allen R. Myerson was a journalist who, with his fellow financial correspondents at the New York Times, published The New Rules of Personal Investing: The Experts' Guide to Prospering in a Changing Economy. Myerson edited the collection of articles, written specifically for this book by contributors who help readers navigate an investment path that changed from smooth to choppy following the "irrational exuberance" of the 1990s and the huge losses experienced by investors, particularly in 401(k) accounts earmarked for retirement.

Contributors include Leslie Eaton on stocks, Kurt Eichenwald on asset allocation, Jonathan Fuerbringer on international investing, Danny Hakim on mutual funds, Robert Hershey on bonds, David Cay Johnston on taxes, Gretchen Morgenson on traps and scams, and Floyd Norris on market changes. "The writing is lucid and efficient, as one would expect from these staffers, and occasionally conversational," noted a Publishers Weekly contributor.

The writers describe how the stock market has changed and how investments should be based on goals and stage of life if they are to weather the slumps of down times and grow during booms. They explain price-earnings ratios and growth versus value stocks and discuss traps the investor should avoid. Readers are advised not to follow advice freely given at online chat rooms and by self-serving analysts. Booklist's David Siegfried wrote that the contributors "do an admirable job of explaining fundamental concepts" and offer "good advice for anyone new to the field, which is clearly the crowd aimed at by this guide." "The caveats and advice offered by this book are very timely," commented Steven J. Mayover in Library Journal, who added that "easy-to-read charts support the findings and views of the contributors."

Myerson died in 2002.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Booklist, December 1, 2001, David Siegfried, review of The New Rules of Personal Investing: The Experts' Guide to Prospering in a Changing Economy, p. 613.

Library Journal, December, 2001, Steven J. Mayover, review of The New Rules of Personal Investing, p. 142.

Publishers Weekly, November 12, 2001, review of The New Rules of Personal Investing, p. 47.