Gerald M. Astor ’47

After returning to Princeton and graduating in 1949, Jerry joined the staff of Look magazine, then Sports Illustrated , and then The Saturday Evening Post . He married Sonia Sacoder during these hectic times.

In 1971, he began an accomplished career as author-editor of the oral histories of combat veterans of World War II, including books on D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, and memorable Air Force missions. He wanted to portray these events through the grim experiences of those who did the fighting rather than in detached postwar histories. Indeed, Publishers Weekly praised Jerry as “one of the most accomplished oral historians” of those times. In The Right to Fight , he celebrated oral histories of our then-segregated African-American soldiers.

Jerry later turned to other subjects, such as accounts of FBI informants on Mafia gangs, an encyclopedia of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and a biography of Joe Louis.

In our 50th yearbook, Jerry expressed regret that the disruptions of his Princeton education prevented him from knowing his classmates. We, too, regret that we never enjoyed his company.

Jerry died Dec. 30, 2007. We send our warm wishes to Sonia and their two children.