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DAVID PITT Obituary
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Memories and Condolences
for DAVID PITT
Ellen Shaffer
May 10, 2021
I’m thinking of David now in May, 2021, as the Brandeis Class of 1971 prepares to celebrate a 50th anniversary. David became Editor of the campus newspaper, the Justice, in 1968, a year of uproar in many spheres, and we were great allies & partners in prose. We stayed in touch; I also developed Parkinson’s, as he did;& I mourned his loss. A favorite memory: he passed along tickets to an uproarious concert of political music hosted by Sheldon Harnick at the 92nd St Y! David, Joe & I remember you this week.
Stephen C. Rose
February 21, 2021
I knew David in the Berkshires were he did news on WGRG -- an unusual radio station -- where I also worked. Some years later at a NYT gathering David had moved to NYT and then to UNICEF where he wrote speeches for Carol Bellamy. I had just moved to NYC where my wife Kathy became part of the NYT foreign desk. At the party I casually asked David if there was any work to be had in UN precincts. One thing led to another and soon I was in the same communications wing of UNICEF as David was, within earshot of the continual flow of classical music emanating from his office. David was live wire but unassuming and I will look forward to seeing him again when we meet in whatever forms we assume in that realm.
Wanda Pitt
January 27, 2015
Happy trails, Cowboy.
Love always,
Wanda & Joe Pitt
Marianne Kelly
August 11, 2014
I had the great honour to meet David when he was working in UNICEF. He was a wonderful colleague, I enjoyed our numerous conversations covering a myriad of topics from his work at the Times, fencing (which was completely alien to me!) music, his two children and life in NY. Sincere condolences to his family.
May 5, 2014
David was truly the courageous one, fighting an insidious disease which robbed him of his strength but not his continually positive belief that he would be strong again. He never complained and always answered, with his wonderful smile, that he was "fine."
We had opening day at Fenway without you, dear friend, but the Sox are doing what they always do, as you used to say, breaking your heart. This year will be better, but the season without you breaks all of our hearts.
Catherine Clinton
April 21, 2014
Many fond memories of David from the twenties--our youth, not the decade, flood back.
My deepest sympathy to Jamie & Kate and love to Martha for being a person of great courage.
on the hudson
Susan Zakin
April 16, 2014
David was my teacher at Columbia J School; he later became my friend, and most recently, a neighbor. I still think of him as my (only) hip teacher at the J School: the cowboy boots turned the three-piece suit into a statement that he was confident enough to play in the big leagues but he wasn't going to let anyone own him. This is the essence of being a journalist. But few of us can maintain that stance now, and even fewer manage to be so dapper as they do it. It's hard not to see the loss of a man like this as emblematic of losses on a greater scale, but I also feel his unexpected death as a personal loss, a marker of my own time on earth.
Thomas Feyer
March 20, 2014
I was so sorry to learn of David's death. We worked together at the foreign desk of The New York Times in the 1980s. He was a smart journalist and a good man. I will miss him.
March 18, 2014
I just learned of David's death today at a lunch of the Silurians, an organization he persuaded me to join six or seven years ago. He was my cherished right hand man in the mid- 1980s when I was the foreign editor of The New York Times, and we both shared the meaningful experience of having worked for the old New York Post and The Times. It was a time when newsrooms were sheer joy because of people with the wit and moxie of David Pitt who inhabited them. It was also a time when David had a wonderful girlfriend in the building, who, of course, became his wife and the mother of his children. He was a great journalist and a great friend, and I will miss him, particularly when I hear something funny that I wish I could tell him both to see his reaction and to hear his comeback.
Warren Hoge
jeanne pinder
March 13, 2014
David was a great journalist, and a true voice of support for me and others joining The Times. I am saddened to learn he's gone. He will be missed. All of our best to Martha and family.
Nina Mayer
March 11, 2014
David and I knew each other from our college newspaper, the Brandeis Justice and, later, through fencing. His contributions to both were noteworthy. He was a good man. My condolences to his loved ones.
Deborah Levinson
March 9, 2014
So sad to hear of David's passing. We loved him. Our heartfelt condolences to your family from the Levinson family.
Ann and Marion Posey
March 8, 2014
Dear Martha, James and Kate - We know how rough it has been, and how you have dealt with dignity and grace all that fate has thrown your way. Our best to you in this difficult time.
Roland and Ireen Miller
March 6, 2014
I have many fond memories of Dave, from eating out at Alice's Restaurant in the Berkshires (Alice Brock was a friend of his), to hitting Moochie's bar on South Street at 8 in the morning after the lobster shift on the copy desk of The New York Post, to the Metro rim of The New York Times. Dave was always a fun, upstanding character and a good man. Many will miss him. But his memory will live on. Deepest condolences to his family from my wife and me.
Greg Prestopino
March 5, 2014
David was my roommate freshman year at Brandeis. We last saw each other in NY when I lived there for ten years from the mid 80s to the mid 90s. Terrific human and good friend. Would very much like to talk to Tim; I'm on FB.
March 5, 2014
Martha…just a note to let you know I m thinking about you and the kids. I'm so sad for this loss. We'll see you in Leland. With love, Barbara (Brady) Beeker
Omondi Nyangla
March 4, 2014
David Pitt was a mentor and role model journalist to me.I got to know him while he was the president of the Silurians,a gentle and down-to-earth man with enduring and patient heart in moments of crisis,he inspired many of today's journalists,I included.May his soul rest in peace till we meet again.
Salim Lone
March 4, 2014
We loved David dearly. We collaborated while he was at the Times and I at the UN - he was a brilliant writer who cared for the world, and ended up leaving the Times and working with us, and we became very close. We are just moving back to the US from Kenya and it was in the process of trying to get together with him after a decade that we suddenly heard he had died. We mourn with his family and hundreds of others who loved him. Salim and Pat Lone
Robert Cohen
March 3, 2014
I enjoyed working with David at UNICEF. Such a good man, an excellent speech writer. Great sense of humor. Modest and committed. My deepest sympathies.
March 3, 2014
Please leave your name and email address here so there will be a way to contact all of David's wonderful friends. You will soon have an opportunity to honor his memory. He will not be forgotten.
Jack Deacy
March 2, 2014
TO DAVID'S FAMILY : MY SINCERE CONDOLENCES ON DAVID'S PASSING.
I GOT TO KNOW HIM WHEN HE WAS PRESIDENT
OF THE SILURIANS. HE WAS A FINE MAN.GOD BLESS HIM.
JACK DEACY
Mort Sheinman
March 2, 2014
David was a fellow journalist, a former president of the Society of the Silurians, and a soft-spoken, gentle man with a fierce commitment to doing the right thing. My condolences to the family.
Ed and Anne Strauss
March 2, 2014
Sincerest condolences to Martha, James, and Katharine. We will miss David's wit, insights, and love of history and language.
March 2, 2014
David
Timothy & Lisa Pitt
March 2, 2014
David, brother and friend, will be in our hearts forever.
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