Kempton, Murray

Kempton, (James) Murray

(born Dec. 16, 1917, Baltimore, Md., U.S.—died May 5, 1997, New York, N.Y.) U.S. journalist. Educated at Johns Hopkins University, he was a reporter and then columnist with the New York Post from the 1940s. His political and social commentaries, noted for their uniquely rich and elegant style, moral insight, and sense of fair play, touched on many subjects, especially current affairs. Excepting two periods when he left the Post, he continued there until 1981; thereafter he wrote for Newsday, winning a Pulitzer Prize in 1985. His books include Part of Our Time (1955), on 1930s radical movements in the U.S.; and The Briar Patch (1973, National Book Award), on New York's prosecution of the Black Panthers.