Melech (Michael) Epstein, noted journalist and author, died at Mt. Sinai Hospital here last week at the age of 90. Active in the American Communist Party for decades, he split from the party after the Stalin-Hiller non-aggression pact in 1939 which he felt had betrayed the party’s principles.
Epstein was a co-founder of the Freiheit in 1922, the Yiddish-language organ of the Communist Party, and served as its editor from 1925-29. After he split from the party he contributed occasional articles to the Jewish Darly Forward. Epstein was the author of five books in English, including one on the labor movement. He left an essay, “Random Thoughts of a Dying Man,” to be circulated after his death. According to his will, there was to be no funeral. He donated his body to the Miami University Medical School.
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.
