Trailblazing journalist Ruth Gruber dies at age 105
NEW YORK — Ruth Gruber, who accompanied 1,000 Jewish refugees being brought to the United States during World War II, died on Thursday.
That experience became the basis of “Haven: The Dramatic Story of 1,000 World War II Refugees and How They Came to America,” one of her many books but only one part of Gruber’s long, trailblazing life.
Gruber, who was born in Brooklyn, started college at New York University at age 15 and had earned a Ph.D. from the University of Cologne in Germany by the time she was 20.
Gruber then went into journalism, becoming a foreign correspondent and visiting places including the Soviet Arctic and Siberia. She produced both words and photographs.
During World War II, she was appointed special assistant to Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes.
She returned to journalism after the war, covering stories such as the plight of other Jewish refugees.
The journalist and humanitarian died at her home in Manhattan, according to her editor, Philip Turner. She was 105.
