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Hersey, John

Reporter and novelist John Richard Hersey (1914–1993) created Hiroshima (1946), cited as the greatest work of American journalism in the 20th century. This book was a harbinger of the “new journalism” explosion of the 1960s, yet within a few years Hersey had become a critic of the form. His fiction and nonfiction were driven by a concern for social justice, and he served as one of the greatest practitioners and the brooding conscience of the literary journalism movement he helped inspire.

Early Years and Education

Born in 1914 in Tientsin, China, Hersey was the son of American missionaries Roscoe and Grace Hersey, who were posted overseas by the YMCA. Hersey spent his early years in China, but at the age of 10 he returned to the United ...

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