Hurok Bombing

The list, “Bombings in U.S. History” (April 21), contained the incorrect information that “no arrests were made” in the bombing of the offices of performing arts impresario Sol Hurok (“S. Hurok Presents”) in New York on Jan. 27, 1972. One of Hurok’s secretaries, Iris Kones, was killed, and nine other employees were injured in the incident. Hurok, then nearly 85 years old, had to be carried out of the building on a stretcher and was treated for smoke inhalation. He died two years later.

Three members of the Jewish Defense League, which opposed Hurok’s continued presentation of Soviet performers in the U.S., were arrested and brought to trial in the case. But in the first of what would be his many high-profile court appearances, a 33-year-old Harvard law professor named Alan Dershowitz managed to have the entire case thrown out on the grounds of illegal police wiretapping. This defense led to the release of the confessed creator of the bomb, Sheldon Seigel.

Those who desire more information on this sad event may turn to the account in my book, “The Last Impresario: The Life, Times and Legacy of Sol Hurok,” published by Penguin.

HARLOW ROBINSON

Associate Professor and Chair

Department of Germanic & Slavic

Languages & Literatures

State University of New York at Albany