Bruce Lee ’53

Bruce was born in New York City and attended Pomfret School before coming to Princeton. He left Princeton after his freshman year and subsequently graduated from Rollins College and Fordham University. 

He went to work as a copy boy at the Daily News and then worked in various departments at Newsweekbefore becoming White House Correspondent for Reader’s Digest. He served as editor in chief for Reader’s Digest Press but left that position to work on nonfiction books for McGraw Hill and then William Morrow. There he edited Bearing the Cross, the Pulitzer Prize winning biography of Martin Luther King Jr. 

Bruce wrote two important books on military history: Pearl Harbor: Final Judgment with Henry Clausen and Marching Orders: The Untold Story of World War II. The latter involved some 30 years of research in the Army archives and interviewing numerous veterans. He also served as chairman of the board for his family business, LDG Inc. Bruce loved to sail and fish and was a member of several yacht clubs. He served on the U.S. Olympic Committee (yachting) when the U.S. won a gold medal in the 1972 Olympics. 

Bruce died Oct. 14, 2022, in New York City. He is survived by his wife, Janetta; children Evalyn ’83 and Bruce; and four grandchildren.