of murders at a newspaper that is equal parts "page turner and media satire" Retirement After retiring from the Times in 2005, Darnton began teaching journalism as a visiting professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz. In 2009, John Darnton was named curator of the George Polk Awards. Personal life In 2011 he forayed into nonfiction, publishing Almost a Family, a memoir about growing up without a father that also dealt heavily with alcoholism. His father Byron "Barney" Darnton had been a New York Times war correspondent until he was killed off the coast of New Guinea while covering the Pacific War during World War II, when John was 11 months old and his brother Robert (now a renowned cultural historian) was three years old. References 1941 births Living people University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni American male journalists The New York Times editors The New York Times writers George Polk Award recipients Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting winners 20th-century American novelists American thriller writers 21st-century American novelists American male novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers