Fred M. Hechinger, a former education editor of The New York Times, died of cardiac arrest Nov. 6 at his home in New York City. He was 75.
Mr. Hechinger, who came to The Times in 1959, began the newspaper’s education section. In 1977, he became the president of the New York Times Company Foundation and the New York Times Neediest Cases Fund. He wrote several books, including The Big Red School House and Growing Up in America.
Following his retirement in 1990, Mr. Hechinger was named a senior adviser to the Carnegie Corporation of New York, where he focused on education and youth programs.
