Friday, April 18, 2025, 2 - 3 PM
Lenox & Astor Room, Room 216
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
The New York Public Library
42nd Street & 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10018
Explore the life and work of Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Murray Kempton.
Murray Kempton was a distinctive figure in American journalism: a labor reporter, sharp political observer, and man known for his three-piece suits, polished oxfords, and bicycle rides through New York City. In Going Around: Selected Journalism, editor Andrew Holter showcases Murray Kempton’s work with a focus on his years at the New York Post. Using the Library’s archival collection of Dorothy Schiff—the paper’s longtime publisher and Kempton’s employer—Holter sheds light on the Post's pre–Rupert Murdoch era, Kempton’s rise as a columnist, and the growing disillusionment that ultimately led him to walk away from newspapers in the late 1960s.
Holter will discuss Kempton’s extraordinary range, singular voice, and the pivotal period of his career illuminated by the Schiff papers at NYPL.
To join the event | Please be sure to register for an In-Person Ticket. Doors will open 30 minutes before the program begins. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form 30 minutes before the program.
The Vartan Gregorian Center for Research in the Humanities welcomes everyone to join the conversation between curators, librarians, and researchers, as they discuss new scholarship and projects, research methods, and the Library's rich collections and resources.