11/29/2007 - James W. Michaels (1921-2007)
AFS is greatly saddened to report the passing of James W. Michaels, an AFS WWII Ambulance Driver on October 2, 2007.
Born in Buffalo, New York on June 21, 1921. Michaels attended Culver Military Academy and graduated from Harvard (Class of 1942). Because of poor eyesight Michaels was rejected by the U.S. Army, so he applied to the American Field Service and was accepted in April of 1943. At the time of his joining AFS Michaels was working as Junior Economist at the Office of Price Administration in Washington, D.C. Michaels was sent overseas with AFS India Burma Unit 1 at the end of April of 1943. He arrived in Bombay on July 1, 1943. He reported to the AFS Headquarters in Poona and was soon attached as an ambulance driver to the British 14th Army in India Burma (see attached photo). He stayed In India until the end of September of 1944 when he was released to the Office of War Information (OWI).
James Michaels was a renowned journalist; who as Editor of Forbes Magazine enjoyed one of the longest tenures of any major magazine editor in history. Until his death Michaels served as Editor Emeritus of Forbes magazine. He was Forbes editor (1961-99), managing editor (1957-61) and associate managing editor (1954-56). Michaels joined the Forbes staff as a reporter in 1954. He served as bureau chief of the New Delhi bureau of the United Press in the late 1940s. He was a reporter for The Buffalo Evening News. Michaels has been a mentor to many of the nation’s top business writers.
After the war, Michaels stayed in India and joined the New Delhi bureau of the United Press wire service in the last months of the Raj. In January of 1948, he wired the biggest story of his life: the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Michaels’ story was carried on the frontpages of most of the big newspapers around the world the next day. His dispatches on Mr. Gandhi’s death have been reprinted in the anthology, “A Treasury of Great Reporting.” Over the following decades, Michaels has visited India several times, watching its transformation. He learned Hindi. Michaels’ ties with India are highlighted in Subrata N. Chakravarty’s article in Rediff India online.
Michaels pioneered the grading of mutual funds and worked with Malcolm Forbes to launch the Forbes 400 annual ranking of the richest Americans. He reinvented business journalism and reinvented Forbes magazine every few years.
During his lifelong career he was honored with many awards, including Loeb Award (1972), Editor of the Year, Ad Week (1983), and Loeb Lifetime Achievement Award (1994). He has been named one of Top Ten Business News Luminaries of the Century honored by the TJFR Group.
James Michaels was a supporter of AFS and he participated in the AFS Legacy Project. He attended AFS India fundraising event in September 2006 (see photo).
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