William Lederer

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Not to be confused with William J. Lederer (Pennsylvania politician).

William Lederer
Born(1912-03-31)March 31, 1912
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
OccupationAmerican author
SpouseEthel Hackett (1940–1965) (3 children)
Corinne Lewis (1965–1976)[1]
ChildrenW. Jonathan Lederer
Brian J. H. Lederer
Bruce Allen Lederer[2]

William Julius Lederer, Jr. (March 31, 1912 – December 5, 2009) was an American author and naval officer.[3]

Biography

U.S. Navy service

After dropping out of high school, Lederer enlisted in the

public information officer, and in that capacity eventually was posted to The Pentagon and later as special assistant to Commander-in-Chief, Pacific, Admiral Felix Stump at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii.[2] He rose to the rank of captain.[3]

Writing career

Lederer's best-selling work, 1958's

Chinese Communist influence. In the book's epilogue, they argue for the creation of "a small force of well-trained, well-chosen, hard-working and dedicated professionals" fluent in the local language, which presaged the Peace Corps, which John F. Kennedy proposed in 1960.[4]

In A Nation of Sheep (1961), Lederer identifies intelligence failures in Asia. In "Government by Misinformation," he investigates the sources that he believes lead to American foreign policy, namely trusted local officials; local (foreign) newspapers, magazines, books, radio broadcasts, etc.; paid local informers; personal observations by U.S. officials; and American journalists.

In Our Own Worst Enemy (1968), Lederer relates that as a young U.S. Navy

Ngo Diem in South Vietnam
, ignored massive black market selling of stolen U.S. military supplies, food, and foreign aid, and refused to stand up to corrupt local officials who stole donated food and supplies, took kickbacks, and bullied their own population, as Americans continued saying, "It's their country, and we Americans are only guests here."

Other Lederer works were intended to be light-hearted and humorous fantasies. His early works, All the Ships at Sea (1950) and Ensign O'Toole and Me (1957) are both. A children's book, Timothy's Song, with illustrations by Edward Ardizzone, appeared in 1965.

Television and film

The

technical adviser for the series.[6][7] He also co-wrote the screenplay of the 1965 feature film McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force
.

Death

Lederer died of respiratory failure on December 5, 2009, at the age of 97.

Eugene Burdick collaborations

  • The Ugly American, 1958 (co-author, with Eugene Burdick)
  • Sarkhan: a Novel,[8] republished under the title The Deceptive American in 1977.[9]

Selected works

  • All the Ships at Sea, 1950 (author)
  • The Last Cruise; the story of the sinking of the submarine, USS Cochino, 1950 (author)[10]
  • Spare-Time Article Writing for Money (1954)
  • Ensign O'Toole and Me, 1957 (author)
  • A Nation of Sheep, 1961 (author)
  • McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force, 1965 (co-screenwriter)
  • Timothy's Song, 1965 (author)
  • The Story of Pink Jade, 1966 (author)
  • Our Own Worst Enemy, 1968 (author)
  • The Anguished American, 1968 (author)
  • The Mirages of Marriage, 1968 (co-author with
    Don D. Jackson
    )
  • Complete Cross-Country Skiing and Ski Touring, 1970 (co-author with Joseph Peter Wilson)
  • Marital Choices: Forecasting, Assessing, and Improving a Relationship, 1981 (author)
  • A Happy Book of Happy Stories, 1981 (author)
  • New Complete Book of Cross Country Skiing, 1983 (author)
  • I, Giorghos, 1984 (author)[11]
  • Creating a Good Relationship, 1984 (author)

References

  1. ^ "William J. Lederer Papers" (PDF). Special Collections & University Archives. UMass Amherst. 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Weber, Bruce (January 14, 2010). "William J. Lederer, Co-Author of 'The Ugly American,' Dies at 97". The New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  3. ^ a b Schudel, Matt (January 10, 2010). "Novel 'The Ugly American' blasted policy in Southeast Asia". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  4. ^ Meyer, Michael (July 10, 2009). "Still 'Ugly' After All These Years". The New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  5. ^ Halsall, Paul (August 1977). "Vietnamese Declaration of Independence, 1945". Modern History Sourcebook. Fordham University. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  6. ISBN 0 14 02 4916 8
    , p. 258.
  7. ISBN 0-345-39736-3
    , p. 316.
  8. OCLC 1061482
    .
  9. OCLC 3203901
    .
  10. ^ "The Last Cruise". Goodreads. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  11. ^ "William J. Lederer". Goodreads. Retrieved January 11, 2017.

External links

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