Former New York Times Executive Editor Joseph Lelyveld Dies at 86

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist remembered for leading The Times into the digital age and navigating major news events

Joseph Lelyveld, former executive editor of The New York Times and Pulitzer Prize winner, died at 86 due to complications from Parkinson's disease.
During his tenure as executive editor from 1994 to 2001, The Times achieved record levels of revenue and profits, expanded its readerships, introduced color photographs to the front page, created new sections, and ushered in the digital age with a Times website and round-the-clock news operations.
Under Lelyveld's leadership, The Times won several Pulitzer Prizes. He himself won a Pulitzer in 1996 for his nonfiction book 'Move Your Shadow: South Africa, Black and White.'
Lelyveld retired in 2001 but returned two years later to serve briefly as interim executive editor after the resignations of Executive Editor Howell Raines and Managing Editor Gerald Boyd in the wake of the Jayson Blair plagiarism scandal.
Lelyveld's career spanned four decades, during which he covered major stories from the Oklahoma City bombing and the O.J. Simpson trial to the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandals and the 2000 presidential election won by George W. Bush.