An Interview with Anthony DePalma of the New York Times

The famous New York Times newsroom story goes something like this: In 1957, at the invitation of a charismatic young revolutionary named Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, the paper dispatched its veteran war correspondent, Herbert Matthews, to Cuba.

Although Castro had been rumored to be dead since his disastrous, so-called invasion of Cuba and there was little evidence of a widespread insurrection or any significant support for a rebellion, the exclusive was still too juicy to resist.

Once there, Matthews trekked into the Sierra Maestra Mountains, skirting Batista's troops until he rendezvoused with Castro and his ragtag handful of men. The front-page article portrayed Castro heroically in his fight against Batista's dictatorship, and incorrectly asserted that his rebel force numbered around 1,000 men.

Matthews's story altered the fortunes of Castro and his beleaguered rebels.

The story cast the bearded guerrilla fighter as the new democratic hope for a nation tired of tyranny, and triggered a series of events that would ultimately bring down Fulgencio Batista's regime.

However, as Castro's designs on power and his Marxist leanings became clear, questions arose about Matthews's reporting that forever tarnished his reputation.

This story formed the basis for former Kellogg Visiting Fellow Anthony DePalma's new book, The Man Who Invented Fidel, and the lecture he gave at Kellogg in the spring.

The idea for the book emerged when DePalma was assigned to write an obituary on Castro for later use and learned of Matthews's role in Castro's rise to power.

In reinvestigating this story, DePalma combed through archives at the New York Times and the personal papers of Matthews, and retraced Matthews's trip into the Sierra Maestra Mountains in Cuba.

DePalma, a correspondent for the New York Times for 20 years, was the first journalist to hold a Kellogg visiting fellowship. Known primarily for his reporting on Latin America (he was bureau chief in both Mexico and Canada), he currently covers the environment beat for the Times.