Publication of Hiroshima in the New Yorker (1997)

Hersey’s first article for The New Yorker was a piece about John F. Kennedy and the PT-109 rescue, which was later reprinted in Reader’s Digest. In the winter of 1945- 46, William Shawn, managing editor of The New Yorker, discussed with Hersey a story idea that would illustrate the human dimension of the effects of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. Ross wrote to E. B. White, one of the few people to find out about the planned article in advance: “Hersey has written thirty thousand words on the bombing of Hiroshima (which I can now pronounce in a new and fancy way), one hell of a story, and we are wondering what to do about it…[ Shawn] wants to wake people up and says we are the people with a chance to do it, and probably the only people that will do it, if it is done.”

Source: www.herseyhiroshima.com