John Hess, 87, Journalist And Food Critic, Dies
NY Times
John L. Hess, a journalist, essayist and author whose often provocative, even cranky, opinions on subjects from food to France to the First Amendment appeared in The New York Times, a handful of books and radio commentary, died yesterday at the Jewish Home and Hospital in Manhattan. He was 87.
The cause was congestive heart failure and pneumonia, his son Peter said.
Much of Mr. Hess’s career was at The Times. It ranged from investigations into corrupt nursing home operators to dispatches from Paris about fine cuisine and French frivolities like a carnival to attract wives for unmarried men.
Such wit became celebrated. When Rudolf Bing, then the general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, asked to see his obituary, already prepared by Mr. Hess, the journalist told him to get a posthumous subscription.
