Ernest Cuneo: Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox |
{{Infobox person |
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| name = Ernest Cuneo |
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| birth_name = |
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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1905|5|27}} |
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| birth_place =[[Carlstadt, New Jersey]] |
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| death_date = {{Death date and age|1988|3|1|1905|5|27}} |
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| death_place = [[Washington, D.C.]] |
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| occupation = Professional athlete, Lawyer, Newspaperman, Author, Intelligence liaison |
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| alma_mater = [[Columbia University]]<br />[[Penn State University]] |
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| employer = [[Saturday Evening Post]] (editor at large) |
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| organization = [[Democratic National Committee]] (General counsel, 1936–1940)<ref name=times-obit /> |
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| notable_works = ''Life With Fiorello'' (1955)<br />"National Whirligig" column (1962–1980)<ref name=FDR /><br />"Take It or Leave It" column (1968–1972)<ref name=FDR /> |
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| known_for = Professional footballer<br />[[North American Newspaper Alliance]]<br />Activities during [[World War II]] |
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| spouse = Margaret Watson (TK–her death, 1976)<ref name=FDR>[http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/archives/collections/franklin/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=134 "Ernest Cuneo Papers, 1926-1988,"] Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum. Accessed Nov. 15, 2017.</ref> |
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| children = Jonathan and Sandra<ref name=times-obit /> |
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}} |
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{{Infobox NFL player |
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| name = Ernest Cuneo |
| name = Ernest Cuneo |
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| image = |
| image = |
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*[[Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL)|Brooklyn Dodgers]] (1930) |
*[[Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL)|Brooklyn Dodgers]] (1930) |
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'''Ernest L. Cuneo''' (May 27, 1905 – March 1, 1988<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/05/obituaries/ernest-l-cuneo-82-owned-news-service.html?pagewanted=1 "Ernest L. Cuneo, 82; Owned Newspaper Service"], ''The New York Times'', March 5, 1988. Accessed April 23, 2010.</ref> |
'''Ernest L. Cuneo''' (May 27, 1905 – March 1, 1988)<ref name=times-obit>[https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/05/obituaries/ernest-l-cuneo-82-owned-news-service.html?pagewanted=1 "Ernest L. Cuneo, 82; Owned Newspaper Service"], ''The New York Times'', March 5, 1988. Accessed April 23, 2010.</ref> was an American lawyer, newspaperman, author, and intelligence liaison. He was also a professional [[American football|football]] player in the [[National Football League]]. |
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== |
== Biography == |
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=== Education and early career === |
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Cuneo was also a star athlete in high school and later played football at [[Columbia University|Columbia]] and [[Penn State University]]. Afterwards, he played two seasons in the NFL for the [[Orange Tornadoes]] and the [[Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL)|Brooklyn Dodgers]]. |
Cuneo was also a star athlete in high school and later played football at [[Columbia University|Columbia]] and [[Penn State University]]. Afterwards, he played two seasons in the NFL for the [[Orange Tornadoes]] and the [[Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL)|Brooklyn Dodgers]]. |
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Cuneo's first newspaper experience was as editor of the school newspaper at [[East Rutherford]] High School. During his college vacations, Cuneo worked for the ''[[New York Daily News]]''. |
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==Newspapers== |
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Cuneo's first newspaper experience was as editor of the school newspaper at [[East Rutherford High School]]. During his college vacations, Cuneo worked for the ''[[New York Daily News]]''. He later served as president of the [[North American Newspaper Alliance]] and was later editor-at-large of the ''[[Saturday Evening Post]]''. For a number of years he wrote a syndicated column, "Take It or Leave It," which appeared three times a week. The success of the column led to an offer to take over the "National Whirligig," the original "news behind the news" column which appeared five days a week. Cuneo also wrote several books. His writings also appeared in several articles posted by the [[Professional Football Researchers Association]]. These writing reflected on Cuneo's own experiences in the NFL, as well as his friendship with [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]]r, [[Benny Friedman]]. |
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⚫ | After acquiring his law degree, Cuneo became law secretary to [[Fiorello H. LaGuardia]], who was then a [[United States Congress|congressman]] representing [[New York (state)|New York]]. During this time, he would brief LaGuardia on the investigations of judicial malpractice and fraudulent bankruptcies. His 1955 memoir ''Life With Fiorello'' would serve in large part for the basis of the Tony Award-winning musical ''[[Fiorello!]]''<ref name=times-obit /> |
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⚫ | According to [[Neal Gabler]], from the mid-1930s on, Cuneo not only acted as a liaison between [[Franklin Roosevelt]] and [[Walter Winchell]], but he frequently wrote long political items for the Winchell column.<ref>[[Neal Gabler]], Walter Winchell: Gossip, Power and the Culture of Celebrity ( |
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⚫ | In 1936, James Farley appointed Cuneo associate general counsel of the [[Democratic National Committee]]. According to [[Neal Gabler]], from the mid-1930s on, Cuneo not only acted as a liaison between [[Franklin Roosevelt]] and [[Walter Winchell]], but he frequently wrote long political items for the Winchell column.<ref>[[Neal Gabler]], ''Walter Winchell: Gossip, Power and the Culture of Celebrity'' (Knopf, 1994).</ref> |
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==Law and politics== |
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⚫ | After acquiring his law degree, Cuneo became law secretary to [[Fiorello LaGuardia]], who was then a [[United States Congress|congressman]] representing [[New York (state)|New York]]. During this time, he would brief LaGuardia on the investigations of judicial malpractice and fraudulent bankruptcies. His 1955 memoir ''Life With Fiorello'' would serve in large part for the basis of the Tony Award-winning musical ''[[Fiorello!]]'' |
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In 1936, James Farley appointed Cuneo associate general counsel of the [[Democratic National Committee]]. He would later represent [[Walter Winchell]]. |
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When [[World War II]] began, [[William Joseph Donovan|General William Donovan]], who was head of the [[Office of Strategic Services]] (OSS), appointed Cuneo a liaison officer between the OSS, [[British Security Coordination]] (a part of MI-6),<ref>Jennet Conant, ''The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington,'' Simon and Schuster, 2008</ref> the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], the [[United States Department of State]], and U.S. President [[Franklin Roosevelt]]. |
When [[World War II]] began, [[William Joseph Donovan|General William Donovan]], who was head of the [[Office of Strategic Services]] (OSS), appointed Cuneo a liaison officer between the OSS, [[British Security Coordination]] (a part of MI-6),<ref>Jennet Conant, ''The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington,'' Simon and Schuster, 2008</ref> the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], the [[United States Department of State]], and U.S. President [[Franklin Roosevelt]]. |
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A friend of the muckraking newspaper columnist and broadcaster [[Drew Pearson (journalist)|Drew Pearson]], Cuneo used his position at the OSS to leak stories on U.S. commanders and their behavior.<ref>Sweeney, Michael S., ''Secrets of victory: the Office of Censorship and the American press and Radio in World War II'', University of North Carolina Press, {{ISBN|0-8078-2598-0}} (2001), pp. 157-162</ref> Pearson, whose reputation had been severely damaged after President Roosvelt had publicly called him a liar, wanted to strike back at the administration and its conduct of the war. Cuneo suggested to Pearson that a sensational, exclusive news story would make people forget Roosevelt's criticism, and offered Pearson details of General [[George S. Patton]]'s [[George S. Patton slapping incidents|slapping of a private soldier]] he had learned from others in the War Department.<ref>Hirshson, Stanley P., ''General Patton: A Soldier's Life'', p. 424</ref> Pearson's resulting broadcasts and news articles sufficiently concerned Secretary of War [[Henry L. Stimson]] that he requested Army General [[Joseph T. McNarney]] to "..put an inspector on the War Department to see who has been leaking out information. Pearson's articles are about three-quarters false but there's just a germ of truth in them that someone must have given him."<ref>Hirshson, Stanley P., ''General Patton: A Soldier's Life'', p. 426</ref> |
A friend of the muckraking newspaper columnist and broadcaster [[Drew Pearson (journalist)|Drew Pearson]], Cuneo used his position at the OSS to leak stories on U.S. commanders and their behavior.<ref>Sweeney, Michael S., ''Secrets of victory: the Office of Censorship and the American press and Radio in World War II'', University of North Carolina Press, {{ISBN|0-8078-2598-0}} (2001), pp. 157-162</ref> Pearson, whose reputation had been severely damaged after President Roosvelt had publicly called him a liar, wanted to strike back at the administration and its conduct of the war. Cuneo suggested to Pearson that a sensational, exclusive news story would make people forget Roosevelt's criticism, and offered Pearson details of General [[George S. Patton]]'s [[George S. Patton slapping incidents|slapping of a private soldier]] he had learned from others in the War Department.<ref>Hirshson, Stanley P., ''General Patton: A Soldier's Life'', p. 424</ref> Pearson's resulting broadcasts and news articles sufficiently concerned Secretary of War [[Henry L. Stimson]] that he requested Army General [[Joseph T. McNarney]] to "..put an inspector on the War Department to see who has been leaking out information. Pearson's articles are about three-quarters false but there's just a germ of truth in them that someone must have given him."<ref>Hirshson, Stanley P., ''General Patton: A Soldier's Life'', p. 426</ref> |
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While working with Donovan and British Intelligence, Cuneo became acquainted with such notable people as [[Sir William Stephenson]], [[Roald Dahl]], [[Noël Coward]], [[Ivar Bryce]], and [[James Bond]] creator [[Ian Fleming]]. A particularly close friendship developed between Fleming and Cuneo, and Fleming named a taxi driver in his James Bond novel ''[[Diamonds Are Forever (novel)|Diamonds Are Forever]]'' "Ernie Cureo" ''(sic).'' Fleming later credited Cuneo with more than half the plot for ''[[Goldfinger (novel)|Goldfinger]]'' and all of the basic plot for ''[[Thunderball (novel)|Thunderball]]''; the dedication of the latter novel reads, "To Ernest Cuneo, Muse." For his service during the war, Cuneo was decorated by [[Italy]], [[Great Britain]], and the [[Genoa, Italy|City of Genoa]]. |
While working with Donovan and British Intelligence, Cuneo became acquainted with such notable people as [[Sir William Stephenson]], [[Roald Dahl]], [[Noël Coward]], [[Ivar Bryce]], and [[James Bond]] creator [[Ian Fleming]].<ref name=conant>Jennet Conant, ''The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington'', 2008. p. 332</ref> A particularly close friendship developed between Fleming and Cuneo, and Fleming named a taxi driver in his James Bond novel ''[[Diamonds Are Forever (novel)|Diamonds Are Forever]]'' "Ernie Cureo" ''(sic).'' Fleming later credited Cuneo with more than half the plot for ''[[Goldfinger (novel)|Goldfinger]]'' and all of the basic plot for ''[[Thunderball (novel)|Thunderball]]''; the dedication of the latter novel reads, "To Ernest Cuneo, Muse." For his service during the war, Cuneo was decorated by [[Italy]], [[Great Britain]], and the [[Genoa, Italy|City of Genoa]]. |
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=== Post-war activities === |
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In March 1951, Cuneo and a small group of investors<ref name=Knoll>Knoll, Erwin. [http://strippersguide.blogspot.com/2008/06/news-of-yore-1952-once-mighty-mcclure.html "McClure Syndicate Sold to Bell-NANA"]. ''Editor & Publisher'' (September 6, 1952).</ref> purchased the [[North American Newspaper Alliance]] (NANA). In addition, Cuneo and the [[Bell Syndicate]]-North American Newspaper Alliance group acquired the [[McClure Newspaper Syndicate]] in September 1952, with Louis Ruppel installed as president and editor.<ref name=Knoll /> Cuneo acquired full control over NANA in the mid-1950s and served as president until 1963 when he sold it. Because of Cuneo's association with former members of American and British intelligence, including Fleming and Bryce, and because some writers in the Cuneo era had alleged links to the [[CIA]], critics have suggested that NANA under his tenure was a front for espionage.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.namebase.org/xnoe/North-american-Newspaper-Alliance.html |title=NORTH AMERICAN NEWSPAPER ALLIANCE |author= |date= |work=[[NameBase]] |publisher= |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/64lKpuxzU |archivedate=2012-01-17 |accessdate=2012-01-20}}</ref> |
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He remained with NANA as a columnist and military analyst from 1963 to 1980.<ref name =NYTObit>[https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/05/obituaries/ernest-l-cuneo-82-owned-news-service.html?pagewanted=1 "Ernest L. Cuneo, 82; Owned Newspaper Service"], ''The New York Times'', March 5, 1988. Accessed April 23, 2010.</ref> For a number of years Cuneo wrote a syndicated column, "Take It or Leave It," which appeared three times a week. Earlier (in the early 1960s) he took over the "National Whirligig," the original "news behind the news" column<ref name=FDR /> which appeared five days a week; writing that column until his death. |
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He also later served as editor-at-large of ''[[The Saturday Evening Post]]''. |
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Cuneo also wrote several books. His writings also appeared in several articles posted by the [[Professional Football Researchers Association]]. These writing reflected on Cuneo's own experiences in the NFL, as well as his friendship with [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]]r [[Benny Friedman]]. |
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* ''Life with Fiorello'', Macmillan 1955 |
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==Further reading== |
==Further reading== |
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*[http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu:8000/findbrow.cgi?collection=Cuneo,+Ernest Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum: Papers of Ernest Cuneo] |
*[http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu:8000/findbrow.cgi?collection=Cuneo,+Ernest Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum: Papers of Ernest Cuneo] |
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{{Authority control}} |
{{Authority control}} |
Revision as of 00:04, 16 November 2017
Ernest Cuneo | |
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Born | |
Died | March 1, 1988 | (aged 82)
Alma mater | Columbia University Penn State University |
Occupation(s) | Professional athlete, Lawyer, Newspaperman, Author, Intelligence liaison |
Employer | Saturday Evening Post (editor at large) |
Organization(s) | Democratic National Committee (General counsel, 1936–1940)[1] |
Known for | Professional footballer North American Newspaper Alliance Activities during World War II |
Notable work | Life With Fiorello (1955) "National Whirligig" column (1962–1980)[2] "Take It or Leave It" column (1968–1972)[2] |
Spouse(s) | Margaret Watson (TK–her death, 1976)[2] |
Children | Jonathan and Sandra[1] |
Personal information | |
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Born: | Carlstadt, New Jersey | May 27, 1905
Died: | March 1, 1988 Washington, D.C. | (aged 82)
Height: | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
Weight: | 192 lb (87 kg) |
Career information | |
College: | Columbia, Penn State |
Position: | Fullback, Guard, Halfback |
Career history | |
| |
Player stats at PFR |
Ernest L. Cuneo (May 27, 1905 – March 1, 1988)[1] was an American lawyer, newspaperman, author, and intelligence liaison. He was also a professional football player in the National Football League.
Biography
Education and early career
Cuneo was also a star athlete in high school and later played football at Columbia and Penn State University. Afterwards, he played two seasons in the NFL for the Orange Tornadoes and the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Cuneo's first newspaper experience was as editor of the school newspaper at East Rutherford High School. During his college vacations, Cuneo worked for the New York Daily News.
After acquiring his law degree, Cuneo became law secretary to Fiorello H. LaGuardia, who was then a congressman representing New York. During this time, he would brief LaGuardia on the investigations of judicial malpractice and fraudulent bankruptcies. His 1955 memoir Life With Fiorello would serve in large part for the basis of the Tony Award-winning musical Fiorello![1]
In 1936, James Farley appointed Cuneo associate general counsel of the Democratic National Committee. According to Neal Gabler, from the mid-1930s on, Cuneo not only acted as a liaison between Franklin Roosevelt and Walter Winchell, but he frequently wrote long political items for the Winchell column.[3]
World War II service
When World War II began, General William Donovan, who was head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), appointed Cuneo a liaison officer between the OSS, British Security Coordination (a part of MI-6),[4] the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Department of State, and U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt.
A friend of the muckraking newspaper columnist and broadcaster Drew Pearson, Cuneo used his position at the OSS to leak stories on U.S. commanders and their behavior.[5] Pearson, whose reputation had been severely damaged after President Roosvelt had publicly called him a liar, wanted to strike back at the administration and its conduct of the war. Cuneo suggested to Pearson that a sensational, exclusive news story would make people forget Roosevelt's criticism, and offered Pearson details of General George S. Patton's slapping of a private soldier he had learned from others in the War Department.[6] Pearson's resulting broadcasts and news articles sufficiently concerned Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson that he requested Army General Joseph T. McNarney to "..put an inspector on the War Department to see who has been leaking out information. Pearson's articles are about three-quarters false but there's just a germ of truth in them that someone must have given him."[7]
While working with Donovan and British Intelligence, Cuneo became acquainted with such notable people as Sir William Stephenson, Roald Dahl, Noël Coward, Ivar Bryce, and James Bond creator Ian Fleming.[8] A particularly close friendship developed between Fleming and Cuneo, and Fleming named a taxi driver in his James Bond novel Diamonds Are Forever "Ernie Cureo" (sic). Fleming later credited Cuneo with more than half the plot for Goldfinger and all of the basic plot for Thunderball; the dedication of the latter novel reads, "To Ernest Cuneo, Muse." For his service during the war, Cuneo was decorated by Italy, Great Britain, and the City of Genoa.
Post-war activities
In March 1951, Cuneo and a small group of investors[9] purchased the North American Newspaper Alliance (NANA). In addition, Cuneo and the Bell Syndicate-North American Newspaper Alliance group acquired the McClure Newspaper Syndicate in September 1952, with Louis Ruppel installed as president and editor.[9] Cuneo acquired full control over NANA in the mid-1950s and served as president until 1963 when he sold it. Because of Cuneo's association with former members of American and British intelligence, including Fleming and Bryce, and because some writers in the Cuneo era had alleged links to the CIA, critics have suggested that NANA under his tenure was a front for espionage.[10]
He remained with NANA as a columnist and military analyst from 1963 to 1980.[11] For a number of years Cuneo wrote a syndicated column, "Take It or Leave It," which appeared three times a week. Earlier (in the early 1960s) he took over the "National Whirligig," the original "news behind the news" column[2] which appeared five days a week; writing that column until his death.
He also later served as editor-at-large of The Saturday Evening Post.
Cuneo also wrote several books. His writings also appeared in several articles posted by the Professional Football Researchers Association. These writing reflected on Cuneo's own experiences in the NFL, as well as his friendship with Pro Football Hall of Famer Benny Friedman.
Published works
- Life with Fiorello, Macmillan 1955
- "Present at the Creation: Professional Football in the Twenties." American Scholar, 1987
- "I Remember Benny", 1986
- "In the Same League", 1988
Further reading
References
- ^ a b c d "Ernest L. Cuneo, 82; Owned Newspaper Service", The New York Times, March 5, 1988. Accessed April 23, 2010.
- ^ a b c d "Ernest Cuneo Papers, 1926-1988," Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum. Accessed Nov. 15, 2017.
- ^ Neal Gabler, Walter Winchell: Gossip, Power and the Culture of Celebrity (Knopf, 1994).
- ^ Jennet Conant, The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington, Simon and Schuster, 2008
- ^ Sweeney, Michael S., Secrets of victory: the Office of Censorship and the American press and Radio in World War II, University of North Carolina Press, ISBN 0-8078-2598-0 (2001), pp. 157-162
- ^ Hirshson, Stanley P., General Patton: A Soldier's Life, p. 424
- ^ Hirshson, Stanley P., General Patton: A Soldier's Life, p. 426
- ^ Jennet Conant, The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington, 2008. p. 332
- ^ a b Knoll, Erwin. "McClure Syndicate Sold to Bell-NANA". Editor & Publisher (September 6, 1952).
- ^ "NORTH AMERICAN NEWSPAPER ALLIANCE". NameBase. Archived from the original on 2012-01-17. Retrieved 2012-01-20.
- ^ "Ernest L. Cuneo, 82; Owned Newspaper Service", The New York Times, March 5, 1988. Accessed April 23, 2010.
- 1905 births
- 1988 deaths
- Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL) players
- Columbia Lions football players
- Penn State Nittany Lions football players
- Orange Tornadoes players
- Columbia Law School alumni
- New York (state) Democrats
- People from Carlstadt, New Jersey
- Players of American football from New Jersey
- James Bond
- World War II spies for the United States