Tad Szulc


Tadeusz Witold Szulc was an author and foreign correspondent for The New York Times from 1953 to 1972. Szulc is credited with breaking the story of the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Early life

Szulc was born in Warsaw, Poland, the son of Seweryn and Janina Baruch Szulc. He attended Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland. In 1940 he emigrated from Poland to join his family in Brazil; it had left Poland in the mid-1930s.
In Brazil, he studied at the University of Brazil, but in 1945, he abandoned his studies to work as a reporter for the Associated Press in Rio de Janeiro.

Early career

In 1947 he moved from Brazil to New York City, and in 1954, he became a US citizen. His emigration had been sponsored by United States Ambassador John Cooper Wiley, who was married to his aunt.

''New York Times''

From 1953 to 1972, Szulc was a foreign correspondent for The New York Times.
On April 6, 1961, nine days before the CIA-supported Bay of Pigs invasion, Szulc wrote a Times article stating that an invasion of Cuba was "imminent." W Joseph Campell has disproved the legend that the Times killed the story after President John F. Kennedy personally telephoned publisher Orvil Dryfoos, asking him to do so. The Times actually reduced the coverage in prominence and detail, but the article was still on the front page.
Szulc's interest in Cuba continued over time, and he published an in-depth biography of Fidel Castro.
In 1968, Szulc was a reporter in Czechoslovakia during the Soviet invasion against the Prague Spring.
Szulc has also written articles regarding Latin America for several other publications, including The New Yorker, Esquire, Penthouse, National Geographic, and The Progressive.

Death and legacy

In 2001, Szulc died of cancer at his home, in Washington, D.C. He was survived by his wife and his two children.
He was a Knight of the French Légion d'honneur.

Books