Art Buchwald, who yesterday won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in his syndicated column, said today that he attributes a lot of his humor to the fact that he is Jewish. “It rubs off,” he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Buchwald is known for his Washington-based column of satire on political and social issues. The 56-year-old Buchwald, described by the Pulitzer board as “an American institution,”started in Paris after World War II where he began writing about nightlife for the Paris Herald Tribune and eventually moved into the satirical column for which he is now famous. He moved to Washington during the Kennedy Administration and has since been producing three columns a week for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate.
Buchwold told the JTA that at the age of six he was put into the Hebrew Orphan Asylum in New York and through that institution was placed in various foster homes until the age of 16 when he joined the Marine Corps. He said he never had a Bar Mitzvah because he considered himself a man already. His refusal to have a Bar Mitzvah made his father angry, he noted. However, he stressed he has always considered himself a Jew although he does not belong to a temple or to any Jewish organization, “or any other organizations.” He said that he has on occasion spoken at fund-raising functions for Jewish organizations.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
