Mel Laytner

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Mel Laytner

Goodreads Author


Born
in New York City, The United States
October 10

Website

Genre

Influences

Member Since
July 2016


Mel Laytner is the author of What They Didn't Burn, an acclaimed investigative memoir.

He was a reporter and editor of hard news for some twenty years, much of it as a foreign correspondent covering the Middle East for NBC News and United Press International.

His first full-time reporting job was with UPI covering all manner of urban mayhem in New York City, his hometown.

After a stint as a one-person suburban bureau chief, he moved to the General Desk and became the “slot man” editor, responsible for selecting and final editing the day’s top stories for UPI’s 400 afternoon newspaper clients.
His first foreign assignment was London. A year later, UPI moved him to Tel Aviv and a year after that, he was named Jerusalem Correspondent. NBC
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Mel Laytner Hi David -- I worked in the Middle East for seven years. Visiting the West Bank was part of my daily beat. Having lunch in Jericho on Saturdays was SO…moreHi David -- I worked in the Middle East for seven years. Visiting the West Bank was part of my daily beat. Having lunch in Jericho on Saturdays was SOP (partly because west Jerusalem was shut down for the sabbath). It IS an intriguing place and for a working reporter, a great beat because it's always in the news. Sad part is, the story never changed; always variations of the theme.

As for writing full-time, the short answer is no. I've researched material for several pieces but haven't moved the process forward. The truth is, my focus (my wife would call it obsession) was on, first, getting the book published and, now, promoting it. Publishers these days do little to nothing to help, unless your name ends in Obama. Most recently, I've finished the audiobook version working with a very talented producer/narrator, Colin Martin. It is under technical review by ACX (Audible/Amazon). ACX says tech reviews take 10 days; others have complained that it has taken up to 45 days. So we'll see. It has already been approved by Findaway Voices, which distributes to everyone except Amazon. (It will go on sale on Google Play on 8/15 and hopefully elsewhere in the next two to three weeks.) -- Best, Mel Laytner(less)
Average rating: 4.3 · 333 ratings · 71 reviews · 1 distinct workSimilar authors
What They Didn't Burn: Unco...

4.31 avg rating — 334 ratings4 editions
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Brave Companions:...
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Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Daniel Silva
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Brave Companions by David McCullough
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The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan
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Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Daniel Silva
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What They Didn't Burn by Mel Laytner
"A moving and well researched book about his father‘s time in a force labour camp and how he survived the Holocaust. Reading about that death March I’m thinking the war was lost but yet they were killing them until the last minute. Especially today wi" Read more of this review »
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The Thirteenth Husband by Greer Macallister
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The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan
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The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors by James D. Hornfischer
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The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt
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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics posts views last activity  
Jewish Book Club: 2023/7 Discussion of Sonia Purnell's A Woman of No Importance--POLL WINNER 15 31 Aug 16, 2023 12:38PM  
Jewish Book Club: Holocaust literature and the Jewish Book Club 324 201 Jul 23, 2025 08:01AM  
A.J. Liebling
“There are three kinds of writers of news in our generation. In inverse order of worldly consideration, they are:
1. The reporter, who writes what he sees.
2. The interpretive reporter, who writes what he sees and what he construes to be its meaning.
3. The expert, who writes what he construes to be the meaning of what he hasn’t seen.
... All is manifest to [the expert], since his conclusions are not limited by his powers of observation. Logistics, to borrow a word from the military species of the genus, favor him, since it is possible to not see many things at the same time. For example, a correspondent cannot cover a front and the Pentagon simultaneously. An expert can, and from an office in New York, at that.”
A.J. Liebling, The Press

Elena Ferrante
“Words: with them you can do and undo as you please.”
Elena Ferrante, The Story of a New Name

Tom Robbins
“Cries for help are frequently inaudible.”
Tom Robbins, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

Tana French
“Smoked like it was fuel and he was going to get every last inch to the gallon.”
Tana French, The Secret Place

Elena Ferrante
“Lies are better than tranquilizers.”
Elena Ferrante, The Story of the Lost Child

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