Funeral services were held here Monday for Benjamin Hanft, called the dean of American Jewish publicists, who died in his sleep in his New York city home last Thursday at the age of 80.
During a 50-year career, he had served as publicity director for the American Jewish Committee, the national United Jewish Appeal, the Council of Jewish Federations, the American Jewish Congress and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.
Formerly a reporter for the now-defunct New York World, Hanft had also written for newspapers in New Orleans, Galveston and upper New York. He had been a merchant seaman, playwright and an indoor long-distance swimmer.
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.
