Elmer Bendiner

Elmer Bendiner was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1916. Following the death of his father, his family moved to New York City, where he spent much of his adolescence. He worked as a reporter, married in October, 1941, and, one week after the attack on Pearl Harbor, enlisted in the Army Air Corps. He served as navigator on Tondelayo, a B-17 "Flying Fortress," and was awarded the Purple Heart, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Medal with three oak-leaf clusters. After the war he worked as a journalist and author. His published books include A Time for Angels: The Tragicomic History of the League of Nations, The Virgin Diplomats, a chronicle of diplomacy during the American Revolution, The Rise and Fall of Paradise: When Arabs and Jews Built a Kingdom in Spain, and The Fall of Fortresses. Elmer and Esther were married for sixty years. They had two daughters, Winifred and Jessica. He died on September 16, 2001.