- Jason Epstein
Jason W. Epstein (born
August 25 ,1928 ) is an American editor and publisher.A 1949 graduate of Columbia College, Epstein was hired by
Bennett Cerf atRandom House , where he was the editorial director for forty years. He was responsible for the Vintage paperbacks, which published such authors asNorman Mailer ,Vladimir Nabokov ,E. L. Doctorow ,Gore Vidal , andPhilip Roth . In 1952, while an editor at Doubleday, he created the Anchor Books imprint. This was the first of thetrade paperback formats, a format which has consistently remained profitable and popular since that time.In 1963, during the
New York City newspaper strike, he co-founded the "New York Review of Books ", with his then-wife,Barbara Epstein .He wrote a book entitled "Book Business: Publishing Past, Present, and Future". In 1979, he was amongst the co-founders of the
Library of America which was intended to market archival quality editions of American classic literature. The first volumes were published in 1982, and the company now prints about 250,000 volumes per year.He has been the recipient of the first
National Book Award for Distinguished Service to American Letters and theCurtis Benjamin Award of theAssociation of American Publishers for "inventing new kinds of publishing and editing and The Lifetime Achievement Award of the National Book Critic's Circle."In 1993, Epstein married Judith Miller, a journalist who wrote for "
The New York Times " and was incarcerated for refusing to reveal her sources in theKarl Rove -Robert Novak CIA leak story. He created a residence in the former NYC Police Headquarters inSoHo , which was decorated byRobert Denning of Denning & Fourcade. ["Editorial Statement — Brushing Up Jason Epstein's Downtown Loft", by Judith Thurman, "Architectural Digest ," March 1995, v. 52 #3, pp. 186-200]His most recent endeavour is
On Demand Books , the company that markets theEspresso Book Machine , which he co-founded in 2004.In 2007 he received the Philolexian Award for Distinguished Literary Achievement.
References
External links
*
* [http://www.college.columbia.edu/cct/may01/may01_profile_epstein.html Profile at Columbia College site]
* [http://www.nybooks.com/authors/86 Bibliography]
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