Naomi Bliven

Born December 28, 1925, in New York, NY; died January 14, 2002, in New York, NY. Journalist. Bliven made her name as a prolific contributor of book reviews to the New Yorker. A 1945 graduate of Hunter College in New York, she joined the staff of the New Republic right out of college. From 1949 to 1954 she was an editor for the New York-based publisher Random House before becoming a book reviewer for the New Yorker in 1958, a position she held for the rest of her life. During her career she wrote over two thousand reviews for the New Yorker. In addition, she published two books: New York: The Story of the World's Most Exciting City (1969), which she wrote with her husband, Bruce Bliven, Jr., and a 1989 novel titled On Her Own.