author
Jack Lait
1882–1954
A hard-driving newspaperman with a flair for drama, he built a long career as a journalist, editor, playwright, and author. He is especially remembered for the sensational "Confidential" books he wrote with Lee Mortimer, which promised readers a look at the hidden side of American city life.
2 Audiobooks
Washington Confidential
by Jack Lait, Lee Mortimer
New York: Confidential!
by Jack Lait, Lee Mortimer
About the author
Born Jacquin Leonard Lait in New York City on March 13, 1883, he grew up in Chicago and went on to become one of the best-known American newspaper figures of his era. Over a career that lasted roughly 50 years, he worked as a reporter, critic, editor, and executive, and also wrote fiction and plays.
His writing ranged widely, but he is most often associated today with the controversial "Confidential" books of the late 1940s and early 1950s, co-written with Lee Mortimer. These books mixed crime reporting, gossip, and exposé, and helped shape his reputation for fast, vivid, sensational storytelling.
Lait died on April 1, 1954. Although the date given in some catalog records is 1882, the biographical sources I found consistently place his birth in 1883.