Washington Report of Middle East Affairs Editor Richard Curtiss Passes
The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs is sad to announce the death of its executive editor, Richard H. Curtiss, 85, at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, MD, on Jan. 31, 2013. Donna Curtiss, his wife of 62 years, and the family will hold a memorial service to celebrate his life at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 16, at St. Alban’s Church, 3001 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20016.
The Washington Report, co-founded by U.S. Ambassador Andrew Killgore, British Ambassador Edward Henderson and Curtiss, former chief inspector of the United States Information Agency (USIS), published its first issue, a bi-weekly eight-page newsletter, in April, 1982. The retired diplomats, who spent the majority of their careers in the Middle East, hoped that by offering balanced news and analysis from and about the region, U.S. Mideast policy would change for the better. Today the Washington Report is a full-color magazine shipped to bookstores, libraries, homes and businesses around the world. Along with its Web site, www.wrmea.org, it provides information not readily available in the mainstream media.
Dick Curtiss wrote extensively for the Washington Report on an array of topics, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the role of ethnic and religious lobbies seeking to influence U.S. Middle East policy. He also discussed U.S. foreign policy and the Middle East on many radio and television programs, and wrote a weekly column for English-language newspapers in the Gulf, including the Arab News and the Saudi Gazette. Traveling throughout North America, Curtiss lectured at conferences, universities, houses of worship, and other venues, urging Arab and Muslim Americans to become more active in U.S. politics and journalism.
After his first stroke more than 10 years ago, he was forced to slow down a little. While his last article for the Washington Report appeared in the December 2007 issue, Curtiss continued to proofread each page of every issue of the magazine he loved, and give sensible advice, until his death.
Curtiss firmly believed, and frequently declared, that President Barack Obama had the intelligence, talent and will to bring the peace and justice both Palestinians and Israelis long for in his second term. Although Dick Curtiss did not live to see peace in the Middle East and a more fair and rational U.S. foreign policy, the magazine he cherished will continue to publish and strive for both.
For more information, please read our “In Memoriam” in the upcoming April 2013 Washington Report. The magazine’s Web site has additional information about Richard Curtiss, including the books he wrote and the films he directed, and will soon have links to some of his timeless articles, including his seminal “The Cost of Israel to U.S. Taxpayers: True Lies About U.S. Aid to Israel,” published in December 1997.