[a] Raised in Mamaroneck, New York, from 1914 on, in 1934 he graduated cum laude from Bowdoin College in Maine, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
He later served the paper as aviation writer, political analyst and director of the editorial pages until he was named associate editor in 1971.
He and his wife were in Hawaii during the attack on Pearl Harbor, as Bassett was serving on the public relations staff of Admiral Husband E.
Bassett retired October 1977 after serving 43 years on the staffs of the Los Angeles Times and Mirror.
He was working on two books at the time of his death—one an autobiography and the other a volume on great sea admirals he had observed in the Pacific Theater of World War II.