Richard Hammer

Richard Hammer, age 93, passed peacefully on October 17, 2021. He was the author of more than twenty books, both fiction and non-fiction, as well as short stories, articles, and essays for major publications world-wide. He won two Edgar Allan Poe Awards for Best Fact Crime, for The Vatican Connection (1982) and The CBS Murders(1987) and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for The Court-Martial of Lt. Calley (1971). That, and his previous book, One Morning in the War (1970), were each named among the 10 best books of the year by both The New York Times and The Washington Post in the years in which they were published. Hammer's first book, Between Life and Death (1969), explored the case that led to the landmark Supreme Court decision in Brady v. Maryland and its repercussions. He wrote and narrated the Academy Award Winning documentary, Interviews with My-Lai Veterans (1970), and was involved in the development of several TV films and motion pictures. Before becoming a full-time freelance author, he was a writer/reporter for The New York Times and its Week in Review section, where he covered the war in Viet-Nam, the civil rights struggle North and South, and other major stories of the times for which he won numerous Publisher's Awards for excellence. Through the years, he wrote studies on politics, the press, civil rights, education, the arts and entertainment for The Twentieth Century Fund, The Fleischmann Commission, and other foundations. As a member of the Author's Guild Committee on Fair Use, he helped successfully lobby Congress to change the copyright law to protect writers and scholars. A native of Hartford, CT., he graduated from the Mount Hermon School, and went on to earn an AB Degree from Syracuse University, a MA from Trinity College, and did his post-graduate studies at Columbia University where he briefly taught. He is survived by his wife of 50-years, Arlene Nadel Hammer and their daughter Emily Hammer of New York City. He is also survived by his two sons, from a previous marriage, Joshua Hammer of Berlin, Germany, and Anthony (Tuvia) Hammer of Airmont, NY and their families.