Edward Hunter was born in New York City on July 2, 1902. In the early 1920s, he began working as a newspaper reporter and writer. Among the papers for which he worked were: the Newark Ledger, the New Orleans Item, the New York Post, and the New York American. From 1924 to 1925, he was a reporter for the Paris edition of the Chicago Tribune, and in 1927, he became news editor for the Japan Advertiser in Tokyo, Japan. From 1928 to 1929, he was editor of the Hankow (China) Herald, and of the Peking Leader from 1929 to 1930.
Mr. Hunter covered the Japanese conquest of Manchuria, the Spanish Civil War, and the Italian conquest of Ethiopia for the International News Service during the period 1931-1936. During World War II, he served as a war correspondent, and in the Office of Strategic Services.
After World War II, Mr. Hunter pioneered in revealing the “brainwashing” tactics of the Soviet and Chinese Communists, introducing this word to describe the psychological methods of the Communists. He served as a consultant to the United States Air Force in 1953, and then became a propaganda specialist for the morale operations section of the OSS in Asia.
Among Mr. Hunter's books are: The Story of Mary Liu, Brainwashing in Red China, and Brainwashing -- The Story of Men Who Defied It. He has appeared at hearings in Washington investigating Communist tactics in the United States.
