Mark Bloom, 番茄社区 Founding Editor in Chief, Dies at 82

— He gave our site its "smart and compelling" voice

by Joyce Frieden, Washington Editor, 番茄社区 January 19, 2022

Last Updated January 20, 2022

Joyce Frieden oversees 番茄社区鈥檚 Washington coverage, including stories about Congress, the White House, the Supreme Court, healthcare trade associations, and federal agencies. She has 35 years of experience covering health policy.

It is with great sadness that 番茄社区 reports the death of our founding editor-in-chief, Mark Bloom. Mark died on January 12 at age 82 in Charleston, South Carolina. According to , he had chronic kidney disease and had suffered a heart attack a day earlier.

Mark, who worked at 番茄社区 from March 2005 to April 2008, was well-known both for his sharp wit and his prowess as an editor. "I was eager to launch 番茄社区 as a partnership with Mark Bloom, who I knew to be an editor who made all writers better and good writers great," BreakingMED editor-in-chief Peggy Peck, who partnered with Mark to launch 番茄社区 and eventually became its executive editor, said in an email. "I told Robert Stern, the CEO who conceived 番茄社区, that Mark would give the fledgling news site its voice -- smart and compelling. I was right."

"Mark was the best kind of editor," 番茄社区 contributing writer Howard Wolinsky, who worked with Mark for 40 years, said in a Facebook post. "He always improved stories. He asked the right questions ... Mark made the copy zing, weighing each word." And besides all of that, "he was fun to hang out with," Howard said.

Prior to his time at 番茄社区, Mark served for 15 years as editor in chief of Physician's Weekly, a poster publication that tackled issues such as the health of presidential candidates and the inside story of the American Medical Association. Earlier in his career, he wrote for the Associated Press, Reuters, and the New York Daily News -- where he -- as well as for Medical World News.

Mark was born in Manhattan on April 7, 1939; he grew up in Larchmont, New York, but lived in Manhattan for much of his adult life. He maintained an apartment there at the time of his death, but in his later years spent most of his time in Charleston, according to Legacy. He attended Kenyon College in Ohio, and was famous for being a participant in the Swine Bowl, a touch football game played annually by Mark and some of his high school friends for 65 years, mostly in Central Park. The game was .

Mark is survived by Susan Lyons, his partner of 9 years, as well as his sister, Dianne Gregg of Potomac, Maryland; two nephews and a niece; several great-nieces; one great-nephew; and several cousins.