- Seymour Peck
Seymour Peck (b.
August 23 ,1917 — d.January 1 ,1985 [Mitgang, Herbert. "Seymour Peck, Times Editor for 32 Years, Killed in Crash." "The New York Times", 2 January 1985.] ) was an American journalist. He is well known for his testimony before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee. He was married to Susan Peck and they lived together for more than 25 years in Hastings-on-Hudson, New YorkWork at "The New York Times"
Seymour Peck was hired by the "
New York Times " in 1952. He held several positions including deskman for the "New York Times Sunday Magazine ".Peck's Communist affiliation
Seymour Peck was forced to testify before the Senate when the
Senate Internal Security Subcommittee subpoenaed him in Nov. 1955. The subpoena followed up testimony from journalistWinston Burdett in July of that year. Once on the stand Peck admitted his own involvement with theCommunist Party from 1935-1949. When pressed by Senators Peck refused to answer questions about the affiliations of other people. He wouldn't name names. Peck a one-time staffer at the defunct Communist leaning "New York Compass " did not claim the protection of the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution when he refused to answer the questions, he simply refused to answer. This, despite repeated warnings that he risked a contempt citation.In Dec. 1956 Peck was indicted, along with
Robert Shelton ,William A. Price , andAlden Whitman , for contempt of Congress by a Washington grand jury. Though he was convicted, the conviction was eventually overturned.Death
Peck was killed in a car crash on January 1, 1985.
Trivia
Walter Kerr said of Peck, "Seymour Peck’s editorial hand ranged far, wide and deep, touching lightly but expertly … He seemed less an editor of any sort than the very best sort of guardian angel," in a Jan. 5, 1985 "New York Times" article.Notes
References
[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,808753,00.html Time Magazine article] , Dec. 10, 1956 [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,861830-2,00.html Time Magazine article] , Jan. 16, 1956 [http://www.nd.edu/~docctr/OMELIA/Clippings/OVERSIZE%20CLIPPINGS%20VI.htm Notre Dame article database] [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A06E0D61F30F935A35752C0A9649C8B63 Susan Peck obit] : NYT, Jan. 6, 2002
]
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