EDWARD E. EDELSON

EDELSON--Edward E., a former science editor of The New York Daily News and an author on science and other topics, died at home Thursday, October 17th in Manhattan. He was 81. Mr. Edelson's journalism career spanned more than 50 years and his awards for newspaper and magazine writing, included The American Heart Association's Blakeslee Award, American Medical Association's Certificate of Commendation, The American Cancer Society's Media Award, and the New York Newspaper Front Page Award among several others. Born on September 10th, 1932 in Astoria, Queens, he was the son of Saul Edelson, a restaurateur, and Sarah Edelson, who emigrated from Eastern Europe in the early 1900's. Educated in New York City's public schools, Mr. Edelson graduated from Stuyvesant High School, New York University in 1953. He served in the US Army during the Korean War from 1953-1954 at Fort Ord, California, receiving an honorable discharge and having been awarded The National Defense Service Medal. From 1963-1964, Mr. Edelson was a participant in the Sloan Rockefeller Advanced Science Writing Program at the Columbia School of Journalism. He joined The New York World-Telegram and Sun as a science editor in 1962 and continued as a science writer and editor when the World Telegram merged with two other newspapers in 1966 to form the short lived World Journal Tribune. When the World Journal Tribune ceased publication in 1967, Mr. Edelson worked as a free-lance writer and was published by Smithsonian, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Medical World News, Harper's Bazaar, McCall's, and Woman's Day, among others. Mr. Edelson was appointed science editor at The New York Daily News in 1971, writing feature articles and breaking news stories on every aspect of science, technology and medicine. From 1979-1980 he was the president of the National Association of Science Writers. He left the Daily News in 1991, and continued to write, authoring several books and freelancing for Newsday, Healthscout.com, and many other publications. He wrote for, and was on the staff of, the internet news service Health Day until the time of his death. His books include: 'Parent's Guide to Science', 'Poisons in the Air', 'Healers in Uniform', 'Help for Your Headache', 'Great Monsters of the Movies', 'Funnymen of the Movies', 'Great Movie Spectaculars', 'Great Kids of the Movies', 'The Book of Prophesy', 'Nutrition and the Brain', 'Drugs and the Brain', 'Sports Medicine', 'Sleep', 'Aging', 'Chemical Principles (with Drs. Robert Boikess and Kenneth Breslauer)', 'Francis Crick & James Watson And the Building Blocks of Life', and 'Gregor Mendel And the Roots of Genetics'. He is survived by his wife Phyllis, whom he married in 1957; sons, Noah and Daniel, a daughter, Anne, a brother, Gilbert, a granddaughter, Hannah, and a grandson, Henry.