After graduating from Columbia Journalism School, he was a sports editor for the local newspaper in Poughkeepsie, NY, a town on the Hudson River about two hours north of NY City. Here is a sample of his writing from his column titled, Starting Post, on October 19, 1941, “Hands clenched tightly in your pockets, woolen muffler wrapped closely around your neck—cold blasts of wind penetrating even that heavy overcoat—your feet stamping methodically on the wooden bleachers to maintain circulation…shouting yourself hoarse. The half time, walking around, seeing old friends, then that heart-warming cup of coffee and the mustard-covered hot dog— finally back to your seat for more of the same. If they won, what a wonderful team! Did you see Jones on that end run?” If they lost, “What an easy pass Smith dropped. This was some punk game.” That’s football. You don’t know why but you’re willing to go through all kinds of self-torture to see a game.”

Then on August 5, 1942, just prior to his induction to the US Army, I found a letter to my dad from the Office of Censorship in Washington, DC, “Thank you for submitting the enclosed story of an interview with Seaman John P. Tully. We have gone through the story, marking in blue pencil some changes that are desirable in the interests of national security. In some cases these changes are substitutions of words. In others, words, clauses and sentences are underlined, which should be eliminated before publication. Thank you for your patriotic cooperation in submitting this interview prior to publication.” It was signed by N.R. Howard, Assistant Director.

My dad was in the Twelfth Army Group propaganda and information control unit, responsible for preparing nightly analysis of Nazi radio broadcasts. He worked with German émigrés, usually Jewish, until 5:30 am when he handed in his report. On January 1, 1945, he wrote, “Adolf Hitler spoke to the German people just after midnight, breaking a six month silence. He reiterated his fanatical resolve to fight the war to a successful conclusion and stated emphatically, “Germany will never capitulate.” He added, “The voice was unquestionably Hitler’s, though it lacked the fire and hysterics that once characterized his speeches…He listed the Anglo-American and Russian war aims, including the transportation of 15-20 million Germans to other countries, the poisoning of German youth and that these aims meant Germany had only the alternatives of living in freedom or dying in slavery.”

I also found a commendation from his commanding officer, dated March 1, 1946, stating “I wish to commend you for the highly meritorious manner in which you performed your duties…You have always worked hard, long hours and with complete devotion to the task at hand. Your services were a great contribution to the many accomplishments for which the Intelligence Branch has been credited.”

On his return to civilian life, my dad went to work for CBS Radio as a news writer on the overnight shift. I found one of his news summaries from August 7, 1946. After going through global news, he explained, “The New York City police department is blushing ever so slightly this morning. Just before 2 am today, the traffic bureau received a call from a woman reporting that a plane had crashed into the Hudson River at 96th street. Police and fire launches were rushed to the scene but there was no sign of a plane in the River. The police headquarters announced that the report was apparently unfounded. But the police aren’t through. Now they say they are going to find that woman. And that’s the top news on the vanishing plane.”

Here is a final note, from Robert Gerstenzang, director of the Brant Lake Camp, to my dad on June 10, 1941. Dan had been a camper, then a counselor at the camp from age 5 to 20. He could not leave his new job at the Poughkeepsie paper. The director wrote, “Congratulations on the beginning of your career as a journalist. I am not trying to be facetious or funny when I say I really look to you, Dan, to go places in this field. If, as an old time school man and a dean of boys, I may venture a word of advice, I should like to say that two of your virtues in particular, should stand you in good stead: your personality and your brains. Make the most use of both that you can and don’t hesitate to work like a son of a gun whether the work appears to be in the direct line of advancement or not. Experiences are what count, and the more of these you get in your own particular field, the further you will go….I always had confidence in you and felt that you were fitted to assume responsibility. Just let others feel this same way about you, Dan and you will have no trouble in life.”

So there you have it folks, a window into Dan Edelman’s life before he went into public relations. These character traits of hard work, calling it as he sees it and aggressive pursuit of excellence are all consistent with the Dan of today.

Hope everyone is enjoying Thanksgiving.

Richard

Posted by Edelman at 1:44 PM |

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Posted by: Kim Garretson at November 26, 2011 12:57 PM

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November 16, 2011

Start Over

I went to a breakfast this morning in New York City sponsored by Common Good, a think tank devoted to better government. Philip Howard, a noted lawyer and founder of the group, spoke to about 50 business people and journalists on the findings of a survey conducted by pollster Ron Facheux. Howard’s talk was one of the highlights of the morning.