A. J. Liebling

Abbott Joseph "Joe" Liebling (born October 18, 1904, in New York City; died December 28, 1963) was an American journalist who was closely associated with The New Yorker from 1935 until his death. Best known as a press critic, Liebling wrote the magazine's "Wayward Press" feature from 1945 on.

Pencil sketch of A.J. Liebling

Quotes

• As a result of its generous stand [Robert Maynard Hutchins’ controversial policy of admitting students after their second year of high-school], the University of Chicago’s undergraduate college acts as the greatest magnet for neurotic juveniles since the Children’s Crusade, with Robert Maynard Hutchins…playing the role of Stephen the Shepherd Boy.
  • Chicago: The Second City (Knopf, 1952; University of Nebraska Press, 2004, ISBN 0-8032-8035-1, p. 110.

• Inconsiderate to the last, Josef Stalin, a man who never had to meet a deadline, had the bad taste to die in installments.
  • The New Yorker, March 28, 1953, quoted in David Remnick, "Reporting It All: A.J. Liebling at 100", The New Yorker, March 29, 2004.

• The subject [of Stalin's death] permitted a rare blend of invective and speculation—both Hearst papers, as I recall, ran cartoons of Stalin being rebuffed at the gates of Heaven, where Hearst had no correspondents—and I have seldom enjoyed a week of newspaper reading more.
  • Just Enough Liebling: Classic Work by the Legendary New Yorker Writer, p. 23.

• People everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news.
  • The New Yorker, April 7, 1956.

• Show me a poet, and I'll show you a shit.
  • The New Yorker, March 28, 1953, quoted in David Remnick, "Reporting It All: A.J. Liebling at 100", The New Yorker, March 29, 2004.

• Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.
  • The New Yorker, May 14, 1960.

• You can hope for lucky encounters only if you walk around a lot.
  • The road back to Paris (1988)

• A man´s taste is formed more by his culture, his profession, and the period in which he is young than by his race or politics.
  • The road back to Paris (1988)

Quotes about A.J. Liebling

• As A. J. Liebling wrote: "Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one." Today, a handful of multinational corporations own much of the media and control what the American people see, hear, and read. This is a direct threat to American democracy. It is an issue we cannot continue to ignore.
  • Bernie Sanders Our Revolution (2016)