Bruce Bliven Jr. (January 31, 1916 - January 2, 2002) was a prolific writer of popular books and magazine articles on subjects as diverse as military campaigns and the history of the typewriter.
Born in Los Angeles, he moved to New York when he was 17 months old. He was educated at Harvard and wrote briefly for a newspaper in Stroudsburg, Pa., and for The Manchester Guardian, the British paper, before graduation in 1937.
He began writing editorials for The New York Post, leaving to serve in World War II as a lieutenant in the field artillery. He took part in the D-Day landings in Normandy and wrote a children’s book about it titled “The Story of D-Day, June 6, 1944,” published in 1956. His “Battle for Manhattan” was published the same year and told of Washington’s fight with the Redcoats.
Following the war, Bliven returned to civilian life and became a magazine writer, covering a vast range of subjects. He wrote for The New Yorker for many years and there met his wife, the former Naomi Horowitz, a fellow writer. They had a son, Frederic.
Bliven died at his home in Manhattan in 2002 aged 85.