David Halberstam dies in auto accident in CA

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Author David Halberstam killed in crash near Dumbarton Bridge

The fatal crash occurred in Menlo Park, about 30 miles south of San Francisco

By Connie Skipitares

Mercury News

Article Launched: 04/23/2007 03:48:59 PM PDT

Pulitzer Prize winning author and journalist David Halberstam was killed in a three-car accident this morning in Menlo Park near the Dumbarton Bridge, the San Mateo County Coroner's Office announced.

Halberstam, author of several books, died at the scene after the car in which he was a front-seat passenger was broadsided by another vehicle. The coroner's office said he died of massive internal injuries. The driver of the car that Halberstam was in was attempting to make a left turn at the intersection of Bayfront Expressway and Willow Road when it was hit by an oncoming car.

The impact forced the two cars into a third car. The 73-year-old Halberstam, who either leaving a speaking engagement or going to it, was wearing a seat belt, the coroner's office said.

Halberstam had spoken Saturday night at UC-Berkeley on "Turning Journalism into History."

Orville Schell, the dean of Berkeley's graduate school of journalism, said in an e-mail this afternoon that Halberstam was on his way to an interview for his next book, about the Korean War, at the time of the accident.

"I have spoken with David's wife in New York City, extended the condolences of the whole school and have offered to do everything that we can in this difficult time for her and their family," Schell said in his e-mail.

A first-year graduate student, Kevin Jones, was in the car with Schell and sustained a punctured lung in the accident and was taken to the Stanford Medical

[NJMedic 96]

Author David Halberstam killed in crash near Dumbarton Bridge

The fatal crash occurred in Menlo Park, about 30 miles south of San Francisco

My guess he us better known to this group as the author of "Firehouse". The book describes the men of FDNY Engine 40/Ladder 35 who died on September 11. The book received widespread praise.

Edited April 24, 2007 by NJMedic