Jonathan Schell facts for kids
Jonathan Edward Schell (born August 21, 1943 – died March 25, 2014) was an American writer. He was a visiting expert at Yale University. His most important work was about campaigning against nuclear weapons.
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About Jonathan Schell
Jonathan Schell was born in New York City on August 21, 1943. His father, Orville Hickock Schell Jr., was a lawyer. He also led an important group called Human Rights Watch.
Jonathan went to schools in New York and Vermont. He later graduated from Harvard University in 1965. He studied the history of East Asia there. After that, he spent a year in Tokyo learning Japanese.
He had a brother named Orville Schell. Orville is also a well-known writer and journalist. Jonathan Schell passed away in 2014 at age 70. He died at his home in Brooklyn.
His Work as a Writer
Reporting on the Vietnam War
In 1966, Jonathan Schell visited Vietnam. He was on his way back to the United States from Tokyo. While there, he wrote a book called The Village of Ben Suc. This book started as articles in The New Yorker magazine.
He was only 24 years old at the time. He got a special press pass to Saigon. This helped him report on the war. He wrote about the terrible destruction of a village. He described how bombs destroyed homes and land.
His next book came out in 1968. It was called The Military Half: An Account of Destruction in Quang Ngai and Quang Tin. This book also showed the harsh effects of American bombings. He saw these events in South Vietnam himself.
Speaking Out Against Nuclear Weapons
Jonathan Schell became very famous in the early 1980s. He wrote a series of articles for The New Yorker. These articles were later published as a book in 1982. The book was called The Fate of the Earth.
This book helped many people understand the dangers of the nuclear arms race. A nuclear arms race is when countries build more and more nuclear weapons. Schell strongly believed in getting rid of all nuclear weapons. He wanted a world free from them.
His book The Fate of the Earth won several awards. It was also nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.
Other Important Work
Jonathan Schell wrote for many well-known magazines. These included The Nation and The New Yorker. He was a staff writer at The New Yorker for 20 years. He also wrote columns for Newsday.
He taught at many universities. These included Princeton, New York University, and Yale. At the time of his death, he was teaching at Yale College.
From 1998 until he died, he was a Senior Fellow at The Nation Institute. He was also the Peace and Disarmament Correspondent for The Nation magazine.
In 2002 and 2003, Schell spoke out against the invasion of Iraq. He believed it was a mistake. He won George Polk Awards in 1976 for his writing. He also wrote essays about the Presidency of Richard Nixon. These essays covered the events that led to President Nixon's resignation in 1974. This work formed the basis of his book, The Time of Illusion.
See also
- Michio Kaku
- Helen Caldicott
- List of peace activists
