RICHARD CHESNOFF

1937 - 2015

RICHARD CHESNOFF Richard Z. Chesnoff, born June 4, 1937, passed away Saturday morning, Feb. 21, in Riverdale, N.Y., following a brief illness. He was 77. Mr. Chesnoff was widely regarded as one of the most respected and knowledgeable journalists covering the Middle East. Early in his career he was a reporter for NBC News and the International Herald Tribune, before becoming the bureau chief in Paris for Newsweek. After returning to the United States, he served as the executive editor of Newsweek International and later was the senior correspondent for US News & World Report covering the Middle East. He was the winner of several Overseas Press Club Awards for his Middle East coverage, and wrote for the Daily News. He regularly appeared on CNN and Fox News. He spent many years in the Philippines as the honored guest of President Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, later becoming the first reporter to interview Col. Muammar Gaddafi after President Reagan bombed Libya in 1986. He was the author of several well-received books, including, "If Israel Lost The War" with Ed Klein and Robert Littell, "Philippines, Pack of Thieves" and "The Arrogance of the French." The last one ironic only because Mr. Chesnoff was a passionate Francophile, and lived in France for many years, first in Paris, and later renovating a medieval stone house in the ancient village of Saint-Siffret, in the Gard region of southern France. Mr. Chesnoff was a raconteur, bon vivant, music and theater-lover; he loved beautiful things, and filled his New York apartment with collections, from paintings, to birdcages, to antique Santos statues, lovingly curated from all over the world. A Renaissance man, he spoke English, French, Hebrew and Yiddish, attending the Hebrew University at age 18, which led to a lifelong love of Israel. He was a contributor to the Hebrew University and the Metropolitan Opera, and punctuated his life with gusto and laughter, loving nothing more than entertaining people with his encyclopedic knowledge of Jewish jokes, which led to him performing as part of Old Jews Telling Jokes. The son of Lewis and Martha Chesnoff of Paterson, N.J., Mr. Chesnoff is survived by his brothers, Robert and David Chesnoff; sisters-in-law, Mimi Zeltner and Diana Chesnoff; son, Adam Chesnoff; daughter-in-law, Lissa; grandchildren, Benjamin and Nathaniel; stepson, Ian; daughter-in-law, Jane Green, grandchildren, Max, Henri, Harry, Tabitha, Nate and Jasper; stepson, Paul Warburg; daughter-in-law, Shannon; and grandchildren, Ella and Honor. Services were held Monday, Feb. 23, at the Riverside Memorial Chapel in New York City. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Mr. Chesnoff's memory to The American Friends of the Hebrew University, One Battery Park Plaza, 25th Floor, New York, NY 10004, (212) 607-8500 or (800) 567-AFHU.