Marvin Kitman (November 24, 1929 – June 29, 2023) was an American television critic, humorist, and author. He was a columnist for Newsday for 35 years and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1982. Kitman was the author of nine books, including two on George Washington that combine humor with extensive historical research.
Early life and education
Kitman was born on November 24, 1929, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Jewish parents who had immigrated from Russia. His family moved to Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, in New York City, during his childhood. A line he subsequently used often was, "Some parents send their kids to Switzerland 'for finishing'; mine brought me to Brooklyn." In any case, he remained a fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates throughout his life.
Kitman attended Brooklyn Technical High School, graduating in 1947.
He attended Baruch College in New York City, first as a night student and then as a day student, before transferring within the city university system to the City College of New York, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1953. He worked on the student newspaper, The Ticker, under its editor-in-chief Ralph Ginzburg, and there developed an aptitude for writing.
Marriage, military service, and family
Kitman married the former Carol Sibushnick in 1951. She became a photographer.
Kitman was drafted into the Army of the United States, where he served from 1953 to 1955. During this time he was a member of the 47th Infantry Regiment in the 9th Infantry Division stationed at Fort Dix. In his later telling, he "rose in only two years to the rank of Private First Class". Among his duties was serving as a sportswriter for the Fort Dix base newspaper.
Upon his return, the couple raised a son and two daughters. They became longtime residents of Leonia, New Jersey, beginning in 1961. He became active in several organizations within the town. He lived across the street from novelist Robert Ludlum, then working on the first in a long list of thrillers, the sight of which Kitman later said inspired him to get serious about his own writing.
Early career
Kitman worked as a freelance writer during the 1950s and 1960s. For ten years he wrote a column for The Armstrong Daily, a horseracing tout sheet. The cleverness of these efforts led to Paul Krassner hiring him to write satirical consumer advocacy for The Realist, which included pieces that took television commercials literally or imagined sardonic extremes of Cold War preparedness.
Beginning in 1963, Kitman became a managing editor of Monocle, a satirical magazine of the 1950s and 1960s. He subsequently became an officer and partner in Monocle'''s periodicals and books divisions. Kitman was one of Monocle editors who created the idea of the Report from Iron Mountain satirical hoax, which was written and published by Leonard Lewin in 1967 and subsequently believed as true by many. He also worked as a staff writer for The Saturday Evening Post during 1965–66.
Taking on politics, Kitman staged a mock run in the 1964 United States presidential election, entering the New Hampshire primary for the Republican Party. (According to the recollections of one of his fellow Monocle editors, Kitman actually was a registered Republican at the time.) He ran as a "Lincoln Republican" who would finish the unmet campaign promises of 1864, such as providing for civil rights, and said that accordingly "I am the only truly reactionary Republican in the race." He also mentioned his Jewish upbringing, say he was "twice as Jewish" as candidate and eventual nominee Barry Goldwater, whom he labeled a "McKinley Republican". His campaign slogan was "I would rather be President than write." Kitman said the delegate pledged to him received 725 votes in the primary, but that he was demanding a recount as "there was some kind of fraud in my getting so many." He carried his campaign on a bit further, including staging a $1-a-plate fundraising dinner at a self-service cafeteria in New York.
Kitman had a brief period working in advertising in New York: first as a "humorist-in-residence" with the firm of Solow/Wexton during 1966–67 and then as a copywriter for the firm Carl Ally during 1967–68.