Victor Riesel

Victor Riesel (1914 – January 4, 1995) was an American newspaper journalist who specialized in news related to labor unions.

Riesel was born into a Jewish family and reared on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. When he was 13, his family moved to the Bronx. Riesel's father, Nathan, was a union activist, held the No. 1 card in a small union of skilled workers, and frequently took his son to meetings. Victor graduated from Morris High School at the age of 15. He spent the years from 1928 to 1940 at City College, where he attended night classes, specializing in personnel and industrial relations.

By day, Riesel worked at various times in a hat factory, a lace plant, and a steel mill. He had his introduction to journalism as director of undergraduate publications and as an editor, columnist, and book and drama critic.

Later, he worked in mines and mills in Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cleveland and Youngstown, Ohio, and reported what he saw for labor publications. He became a correspondent for several foreign papers. He became managing editor of The New Leader magazine, then joined The New York Post in 1941 and began his column in 1942. At the time of the acid attack, it appeared in 193 newspapers.

He wrote a column for the "New York Post" that was nationally syndicated. The most publicized aspect of his career was an April 5, 1956 attack in which sulphuric acid was thrown in his face on a Manhattan street, which resulted in his permanent blindness. The attack was perpetrated by Lucchese crime family members Abraham Telvi, Gondolfo Miranti, Dominick Bando, Charles Tuso, and Joseph Carlino. Telvi and Miranti were murdered during the course of the investigation that followed the attack. The Lucchese crime family's caporegime, John "Johnny Dio" Dioguardi, was indicted and convicted for labor racketeering because the actual attackers Telvi and Miranti had been murdered. Joseph Carlino survived the incident until his death on July 17, 1995. His convicted accomplice, Charles Tuso, also survived the incident and died on August 28, 2003.

Riesel lectured, taught, and made many radio and television appearances. He continued to write his column, typing it himself until he retired in 1990.cite web |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE2DC1430F936A35752C0A963958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print |title=Victor Riesel, 81, Columnist Blinded by Acid Attack, Dies|author =Lawrence Van Gelder |date=January 5 1995 |work=The New York Times |accessdate=]

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External links

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Riesel&GSfn=Victor&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSob=n&GRid=21309376& Victor Riesel] at Find A Grave
* [http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/lucchese2/2.html Johnny Dio] at Crime Library
* [http://dlib.nyu.edu/eadapp/transform?source=tamwag/riesel.xml&style=tamwag/tamwag.xsl Guide to Victor Riesel Papers 1929-1994 (Bulk 1940-1980)]
* [http://newman.baruch.cuny.edu/digital/2001/history/exhibit/chap_09/who_made_big/made_big.htm History of Baruch Collge - 12 Who Made It Big]