author
Lee Mortimer
1904–1963
Best known for hard-charging tabloid reporting and the sensational "Confidential" books, this Chicago-born writer built a career out of exposing crime, nightlife, and scandal. His work captured a rough-edged, mid-20th-century view of urban America.
2 Audiobooks
Washington Confidential
by Jack Lait, Lee Mortimer
New York: Confidential!
by Jack Lait, Lee Mortimer
About the author
Born Mortimer Lieberman in Chicago, he became known as Lee Mortimer and worked as a newspaper columnist, radio commentator, crime lecturer, nightclub show producer, and author. He wrote in a fast, punchy style that fit the tabloid world he moved through.
Mortimer is especially remembered for the popular and controversial "Confidential" books he wrote with journalist Jack Lait, including New York Confidential!, Chicago Confidential, Washington Confidential, and U.S.A. Confidential. These books focused on crime and corruption and helped define his public image as a writer drawn to the city’s seedier corners.
He died in 1963. While his books are very much of their time, they remain a vivid snapshot of mid-century American journalism at its most sensational.