Page 22 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • June 19, 2013 meant to force landowner peasants onto collective farms -- had ever taken place. He called the Ukrainian famine, or Holomodor, “a big scare story in the American press.” Duranty described the situation as “Russians hungry, but not starving.” Gareth Jones, a young Welshman who spoke Russian, toured the same countryside where Duranty said there was no famine. “Everywhere was the cry, ‘There is no bread. We are dying,’” Jones reported. “In a train, a Communist denied to me there was a famine. I flung a crust of bread which I had been eating from my own supply into a spittoon. A peasant fellow-traveler fished it out and ravenously ate it...‘We are waiting for death’ was my welcome, ‘but see, we still have our cattle fodder. (They had eaten the oxen) Go farther south. There they have nothing. Many houses are empty of people already dead.’” Jones was banned from covering the Soviet Union again. Duranty, warmly praised by the otherwise “reptilian” Stalin, as Farr called him, continued to receive news exclusives from the Soviet government. They made him look good. Two years later, Jones, investigating war crime allegations in Manchuria, was kidnapped and murdered by “Chinese guerillas.” The murder took place just before his birthday. He had spent 12 days, supposedly held in custody by people who could not read English. His family believed his murder was payback for honest reporting. Duranty -- an Anglo-Saxon Englishman and a former Harrow and Eton boy with a fake Cockney accent, dabbled in Satanism and sodomy before he settled for adultery, liquor, and narcotics. Duranty continued to be honored by Stalin and the Soviets, especially after the U.S. recognition. Duranty had said Stalin was authentically Russian, even though everybody who knew Russia knew that Stalin was a Georgian from South Russia with Ossetian ancestry. Duranty’s stories portrayed Russia as a rough-andtough democracy and Stalin as the greatest statesman of his era. This opinion ignored the Holomodor planned famine of 1931-32 in the Ukraine and Perm-12, a post-war labor camp in the Urals, each of which killed more people than the Holocaust. Kolima in Siberia killed 900,000 more. Vice President Henry Wallace thought it was a fun kind of place. When Stalin finally died, Duranty lost his credibility even with the Russians, who were sickened by Stalin’s atrocities and who shot his chief hatchet man, Lavrenti Beria. Duranty moved to Los Angeles and sponged off of leftists in the film colony and newspapers. According to his biography, written by S.J. Taylor and published by Oxford Press, an eminently reputable publisher, Duranty panhandled John Gunther for a $500 check while Gunther was distraught over the impending death of his son, as described in “Death Be Not Proud.” While Jones was honored by anybody who remembered who he was, Duranty was described as a Stalinist propagandist by Mark von Hagen, professor of Russian history at Columbia University, and as slovenly by Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., who recommended that Duranty’s Pulitzer Prize be rescinded. George Orwell put him on a British Intelligence don’t-trust-him list. Joseph Alsop called him a traitor to the profession, and Malcom Muggeridge said Duranty was the greatest liar he had seen in 50 years of reporting. The New York Times still lists a Pulitzer Prize for the reporting of Duranty. Now you all know why I never got a Pulitzer. Samuel Johnson said that “biography has lent new terrors to death.” TV coverage and CDs have lent new terrors to blaming the press. When in doubt, check them out. I can make mistakes. Keep an eye on me -- and everybody else. We do not need another Duranty, but we do need a lot more people like Farr and Jones. I will not say which birthday I recently celebrated, but my wife gave me a nice card decorated with some Van Gogh sunflowers, and my son and daughter-in-law took me to the park with my fearless grandson. In lieu of a birthday cake, I got the treat of a lifetime. Some folks who were being castigated by the audience at a public meeting blamed everything on the press, presumably including me. I felt powerful and validated. I love being the Bad Guy -- until somebody plays the CD, which can be utterly convenient. The press, of course, is always to blame. Reporters who invented the Adventures of Bill and Monica were the real culprits. How nasty were the reporters who asked why Governor McGreevey hired a handsome young foreignborn non-expert as a security advisor? My all-time favorite among Lost Reporters is Finis K. Farr, who vanished from the radar after writing acclaimed biographies of several American authors and a bluntly honest biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “FDR,” which may have gotten him the Deep Six in the literary community. He has all but vanished. Farr was an honors graduate of Princeton University and worked at NBC through the 1930s. He served as a U.S. Army officer in the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II and won the Bronze Star for service behind enemy lines against people who, at that stage of the war, were not in a playful mood and usually took prisoners only if they wanted information. Farr shrugged off Roosevelt’s death in April of 1945 as a non-event compared to his real problem at the moment. He was stuck behind enemy lines with a handful of American and Chinese Nationalist officers, while the hundreds of tribal mercenaries they had armed and recruited decided to either desert or change sides. This newsman paid his dues, and not behind a desk. Farr’s nastiness was non-partisan. He noted that Roosevelt and Eisenhower, both college football players, had pulled strings to stay out of combat in World War I. “Ike was yellow,” as Farr put it. This was not saloon talk. Farr really earned that Bronze Star and narrowly avoided a posthumous Purple Heart. Farr said Roosevelt’s first term at the beginning of the Great Depression, when Herbert Hoover seemed clueless, probably did the country a lot of good. Farr also claimed that Roosevelt lied his way into office for the third term by pledging to keep us out of war when he was palpably trying to get us into one. Farr said Roosevelt was visibly dying by the fourth election bid. In 1944, the president had already had a stroke that almost killed him. The stroke was not much reported, and he looked about 90 rather than 63 in his last photos. But FDR had a great team covering for him. The greatest cover-up man of the era conned Roosevelt rather than conning others on Roosevelt’s behalf. I refer to Walter Duranty, Pulitzer Prize winner for the New York Times and the man who influenced Roosevelt and Congress to officially recognize the Soviet Union in the immediate aftermath of a planned famine that killed seven to 10 million people. Duranty denied the famine -- which was Made a mess? Blame the press! Johns Hopkins honors teens (continued from page 8) single parent. Her sister Cate attends Highland School. Harris, a student at Eisenhower Middle School, scored high honors on both the SAT math and verbal sections. Harris is an active member of her church youth group, assists in children’s programs, and participates in the music ministry as a vocalist and as a trombone player. She is known for her willingness to donate funds, food, clothing, and time to help others. She has volunteered for The Seeing Eye, Star of Hope Mission, a local animal shelter, local and distant victims of tragedy, and ministries near and far. In her leisure time, she enjoys soccer, running, softball, surfing, and climbing. This year, Harris won second place in the local Patriot’s Pen essay contest and earned a first place award along with six classmates for the Lexus Eco Air & Climate Challenge. This summer, she plans to take two short-term mission trips. She will be working at a Bolivian orphanage and leading youth Bible clubs in Philadelphia. In September, she will enter Ramapo High School’s Engineering & Design University Program. She also plans to participate in Run Disney’s half marathon to help raise funds for Andrea’s Home of Hope and Love orphanage in Bolivia. A global leader in gifted education since 1979, CTY (cty.jhu.edu) is focused on recognizing academic talent in exceptional K-12 students and supporting their growth with courses, services, and resources specifically designed to meet their needs. Education Week called CTY “one of a set of remarkable nonpublic institutions dedicated to the discovery and nurture of the most talented young people for the highest levels of accomplishment.” CTY draws students from 50 states, the District of Columbia, and some 120 countries. Franklin Lakes Scribe (continued from page 11) June 26. Registration may be completed by phone at (201) 891-2224, online at www.franklinlakeslibrary.org, or by visiting the library at 470 DeKorte Drive during regular hours. This program is sponsored by The Friends of the Library. New meeting date announced The Franklin Lakes Board of Education will meet on Wednesday, June 26 at 8 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Franklin Lakes Middle School at 755 Franklin Avenue. Register for summer events The Franklin Lakes Library, located at 470 DeKorte Drive, invites children to register for this summer’s events. Registration may be completed by calling (201) 891-2224 or by visiting the library during regular hours. Children are invited to roll up their sleeves and design a colorful tie-dyed T-shirt at Terrific T-Shirts. This program is set for Wednesday, July 10. Attendees must bring a white cotton T-shirt to color. The program is offered in two sessions: Children who will be entering grades two through four may attend the session that meets at 2 p.m. Students in grades five through eight will meet at 3 p.m. Registration will begin June 19. The library will hold a Game Day on Tuesday, July 9. Participants may enjoy an afternoon of indoor recreational games. Children who will be entering kindergarten through grade two may attend Session 1 from 2:15 to 3 p.m. Session 2 is open to students in grades three through five and will meet from 3:15 to 4 p.m. Session 3, for children in grades six through eight, will meet from 4:15 to 5 p.m. Registration for this Friends of the Library sponsored program is now open. Correction of June 12 article The surname of Franklin Lakes K-8 Board of Education candidate Victoria Holst was misspelled in the article that ran in the June 12 edition. Villadom TIMES regrets the error and any inconvenience it may have caused. We welcome press releases from our readers. Items may be sent to editorial@villadom.com. Deadline is Wednesday at noon the week prior to publication.