Bruce Bliven Jr., 85; Wrote Historical Books, Magazine Articles

Bruce Bliven Jr., 85, an author whose books range from a history of the typewriter to Washington’s fight with the redcoats in New York City, died Jan. 2 of undisclosed causes in his Manhattan home.

The Los Angeles-born writer, who moved to the Bronx when he was 17 months old, wrote three books about the history of New York City, including the “The Story of the World’s Most Exciting City” for young adults.

Bliven, a prolific magazine writer who wrote for the New Yorker for many years, graduated from Harvard in 1937.

He began his career as New York correspondent for the Manchester Guardian. He wrote editorials for the New York Post before serving in World War II, in which he participated in the D-day landing on Normandy. He said he later wrote a children’s book, “The Story of D-Day,” to “find out what happened.”

Among his other young adult titles are “The American Revolution” and “From Pearl Harbor to Okinawa.” He wrote “The Wonderful Writing Machine,” a 1954 history of the typewriter.