Historical/Biographical Note

A. H. Raskin (1911-1993) was a noted labor journalist and editor. Born in Edmonton, Alberta, he graduated from City College in 1931 and joined the New York Times as a labor reporter in 1934. In 1942, Raskin joined the U. S. Army and served as chief of the Labor Branch of the Industrial Services Division. He returned to the  New York Times upon his discharge at the end of the war. In 1952, Raskin wrote a series of articles about racketeering in labor unions. The articles won numerous awards and prompted the American Federation of Labor to establish an anti-racketeering committee. During the New York newspaper strike of 1963, Raskin researched and wrote a 15,000 word article that appeared the day after the strike ended. It remains a highly regarded work of journalistic objectivity in the face of great difficulty. He retired from the  New York Times in 1977, but continued writing. In 1990, Raskin suffered a stroke which caused him to develop aphasia (difficulty in producing or comprehending spoken or written language). During the remaining years of his life, Raskin was involved in educating others about aphasia, most notably in his moving  New York Times op-ed piece "The Words I Lost" (Sep 19, 1992).