Robert Neville ( journalist ) Robert Neville ( 1905 — February 17 , 1970 ) was an American newspaper and magazine reporter who , in a forty - year career , covered the Spanish Civil War , World War II and the Korean War , working for " The New York Times " , " New York Post " , " New York Herald Tribune " , " PM " and , starting in 1937 , " Time " magazine , where he remained for two and , subsequently , thirteen years , rising in 1938 to became the publication ' s foreign news editor . A native of Oklahoma , Robert Neville was born on a ranch near the small city of Vinita and subsequently moved with his family to Wyoming where , living in another small city , Gillette , he worked , at the age of 14 , as a hand typesetter for a local newspaper . Starting his higher education at the University of California and then transferring to New York City for a Bachelor of Literature degree at Columbia University , he obtained a Master ' s Degree from Columbia School of Journalism in 1929 . While studying for his degrees and for three years after receiving his Master ' s , he worked as a reporter for " The Times " , then for the " Post " and eventually for the " Herald Tribune " which , in 1936 , sent him to Spain for coverage of the civil war which had just erupted there . Some of his battlefield reports were also published in liberal weekly " The New Republic " . By 1937 , after nearly a year in Spain , Neville was back in New York , changing his working environment from that of a daily newspaper to the weekly newsmagazine " Time " which , the following year , promoted him to the position of foreign news editor . Frequently traveling to the Polish capital , Warsaw , in the tense months preceding the outbreak of World War II , he witnessed , on September 1 , 1939 , the first day of the war , as Hitler ' s army invaded Poland . Coming back again to New York , Neville decided on a return to daily newspaper work , joining , as one of the initial reporters , the newly founded ( in June 1940 ) leftist afternoon daily " PM " , which did not accept advertising and resembled a weekly newsmagazine in its reliance on large photographs and stapled pages . Offered the same position he held at " Time " , foreign news editor , Neville remained with " PM " until December 1941 when , in the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack , he entered the Army as a private , at the age of 36 . Quickly promoted to staff sergeant and receiving an assignment to the publications division , he was sent to North Africa where he became a co - founder of the Armed Forces newspaper " Stars and Stripes " edition covering the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II . After the liberation of Rome , the paper moved its headquarters to the Italian capital where Neville , now holding the rank of captain , with quick future promotions to major and then lieutenant colonel , served as its editor and publications officer . In January 1946 , eight months following the end of the war in Europe , Neville gave up his Army commission for civilian life in New York , but soon thereafter decided on a return to Europe , rejoining " Time " as its Rome bureau chief . It was also in Rome , that a year later , at the age of 42 , Neville married Mary Sentinelli . Continuing to report from abroad , Neville was subsequently appointed as chief of Time – Life bureaus in Istanbul , Hong Kong , Buenos Aires and New Delhi , but ultimately deciding to live permanently in Rome , retiring from the publishing conglomerate in 1959 , when he was 54 . Continuing to work as a freelance writer , he authored " The World of the Vatican " , a 1962 book which examined the workings of the city - state ' s government , as well as contributing numerous articles to diverse publications , including " Encounter " , " Harper ' s " , " Look " , as well as " The New York Times Magazine " and " The New York Times Book Review " , Sunday supplements of his earliest employer during the late 1920s and early 1930s . In 1967 , during a skiing vacation in Switzerland , Robert Neville suffered a debilitating stroke which greatly diminished his writing ability and undermined his health , ultimately leading to his death three years later in Rome where , on February 19 , 1970 , two days after his death , a funeral service was held at St . Paul ' s Within the Walls Episcopal Church . He was 64 years old and was survived by his wife .