183:. He worked at his office until noon, answering some of the 3000 letters that arrived each week from readers all over the world. "The readers always had some argument with me," he said, but claimed he was wrong only once—about a man named Seaborn who he said was born at sea. (He was actually born aboard a ship at anchor in a harbor.) He never ate lunch; at noon he headed to the library, where he worked through the afternoon and evening, taking half an hour for dinner, returning home when the library closed at 10 pm. He sometimes worked on Sundays if he fell behind in locating items. His deadline was on Friday, and he always worked several weeks in advance. This routine continued for 26 years, interrupted only when he accompanied Ripley on several of his exotic and highly publicized world journeys.
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newspaper panel from sports trivia to general interest and was looking for someone who could read foreign journals. Pearlroth was fluent in 14 languages, and an avid reader of foreign publications, and he had an unusual memory for miscellany. After his initial interview with Ripley, Pearlroth
172:. The library estimated that Pearlroth examined some 7,000 books every year. "Everyone has always believed that all of this information was found wandering the world," said Pearlroth's son, Arthur. "But it was really found on 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue at the Main Library."
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purchased the rights to the panel, and
Pearlroth continued researching it for another 26 years, contributing exactly 24 items each week. He worked virtually without recognition for 52 years, although he is credited as "Research Director" in
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Although
Pearlroth never missed a deadline, King Features replaced him in 1975. Even after his forced retirement, he continued to contribute items as a freelancer, despite receiving no pension nor any royalties from any of the popular
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books; though Ripley left
Pearlroth a personal bequest of $ 5,000 (equivalent to $ 64,000 in 2023) and paid for his son's schooling.
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Norbert
Pearlroth, who combed hundreds of thousands of books in the New York Public Library over 52 years as sole researcher for
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died of heart and kidney diseases
Thursday at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn. He was 89 years old and lived in Brooklyn. ...
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As Ripley's sole researcher, he worked ten hours a day, six (sometimes seven) days a week at the Main
Reading Room of the
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took him away from his studies. He came to the United States in 1920. He was working as a teller in a
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and was eventually hired for $ 25 for an hour's work a week (equivalent to $ 450 in 2023).
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published, and that none of his interpretations of Jewish names had ever been refuted.
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had approximately 80 million readers worldwide. After Ripley's death on May 27, 1949,
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256:"Norbert Pearlroth, 89, Researcher For 52 Years For 'Believe It Or Not'"
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110:(May 7, 1893 – April 14, 1983) was a professional researcher and
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301:. Vol. 42, no. 34. Indianapolis. 1975-05-16. p. 10
338:"Norbert Pearlroth is a fount of knowledge-believe it or not"
206:, Pearlroth also wrote a weekly column, "Your Name", for the
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He died on April 14, 1983, of heart and kidney diseases, at
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and was planning to become a lawyer, but the events of
438:. Vol. 4. Detroit: St. James Press. p. 216.
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Lydon, Susan. "In Search of the (Nearly) Miraculous,"
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Ripley's
Believe It or Not! 50th Anniversary Edition
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CNN: "New York Public
Library reopens reading room"
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Ripley's
Believe It or Not 50th Anniversary Edition
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344:. November 24, 1979. p. section 1B, pp. 11–12
432:Pendergast, Tom; Pendergast, Sara, eds. (2000).
35:Drawing of Pearlroth from The Jewish Post column
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320:"NYPL, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building History"
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529:20th-century American non-fiction writers
435:St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture
175:Each morning, Pearlroth left his home in
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554:Polish emigrants to the United States
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549:Jewish American non-fiction writers
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128:Pearlroth was born May 7, 1893, in
524:20th-century American male writers
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539:Austrian people of Jewish descent
534:American male non-fiction writers
468:. April 25, 1983. Archived from
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202:In addition to his work for
161:produced three features for
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87:Ripley's Believe It or Not!
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544:Deaths from kidney disease
519:20th-century American Jews
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402:Glenn, L. (Summer 2012).
152:bank in 1923 when he met
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209:Jewish Post of New York
192:King Features Syndicate
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559:Writers from Brooklyn
472:on September 30, 2007
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404:"Believe It or Not!"
293:"The Editor's Chair"
103:for January 12, 1941
378:Ripley, R. (1968).
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222:Believe It or Not!
188:Believe It or Not!
163:Believe It or Not!
158:Believe It or Not!
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146:World War I
51:May 7, 1893
503:Categories
476:2015-01-11
388:B000HUEJXW
305:2023-11-08
268:2015-01-11
235:References
76:, New York
47:1893-05-07
417:August 3,
348:August 3,
181:Manhattan
124:Biography
177:Brooklyn
112:polyglot
74:Brooklyn
57:, Poland
460:"Died"
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142:Kraków
134:Poland
130:Tarnów
55:Tarnów
407:(PDF)
440:ISBN
419:2016
384:ASIN
350:2016
63:Died
41:Born
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
