He worked as a news reporter, wrote books, piloted bombing missions over Europe during World War II, and served as an editor for a news wire service and prominent magazines.
Gerald “Jerry” Korn died Saturday of natural causes at his home in Parsonsfield. He was 89.
His children were not surprised by their father’s long list of accomplishments. “He was a brilliant man,” said a daughter, Susan Korn of South Parsonsfield.
Born in Massachusetts, Mr. Korn graduated from Roxbury Memorial High School before enrolling at Boston University, where he studied journalism.
He worked for a short time as a reporter for the Boston Globe before enlisting in the Army Air Force, his daughter said.
Mr. Korn went on to fly 35 bombing missions with the Eighth Air Force as a B-24 pilot during World War II.
After the war, he became a stringer for the Associated Press, eventually becoming an editor at the Washington bureau.
Mr. Korn met his future wife, Barbara Henderson Korn, while working for the AP, his daughter said. They married in 1948. Mrs. Korn died in 2008.
In the early 1950s, Mr. Korn became a text editor at Collier’s, a weekly magazine. “He loved editing. He used to say the art of editing is to help the writer find his voice,” his daughter said.
After Collier’s stopped publishing in 1957, Mr. Korn became an associate editor at Life magazine. In 1961, he moved to Time-Life Books, where he became text editor and eventually managing editor — a post he held for 12 years. “He helped launch their book division,” his daughter said.
Mr. Korn researched and wrote three volumes in the Time-Life Civil War series.
Another daughter, Maggie Bott of South Parsonsfield, said the Civil War captured her father’s imagination. “He was a Civil War buff. It was his passion,” she said.
Mr. Korn traveled to the areas of the country that he wrote about in the series. “He was a great editor and he loved editing,” Bott said.
Cornelius Ryan, an author of several books on military history, credited the success of his career to Mr. Korn’s skillful editing hand, Bott said. “He was brilliant and kind, at the same time,” she said.
She recalled the time he took Judy Garland out to lunch while he was working for Life magazine. At the time, Life was doing a story on her. Garland told his co-workers that Mr. Korn went out of his way to treat her with respect and kindness.
Susan Korn said her parents purchased their Parsonsfield home on Oct. 12, 1964. They restored the 1800s farmhouse, converting it from a summer home into a year-round residence. Her mother became the town’s librarian.
The daughters said their parents believed the basis of evil in the world was ignorance and that the solution to fighting that ignorance was through literacy education.
In addition to his Civil War writings, Mr. Korn wrote two other books, “The Atom, the Core of All Matter” — a children’s book — and “Raising of the Queen,” a nonfiction account based on a news story he read about an oil tanker salvage effort in Virginia.
“He loved nonfiction, the story behind the story,” Susan Korn said regarding “Raising of the Queen.”
“He just loved the written word,” she said.
Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:
dhoey@pressherald.com
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