James R. Gaines

James R. Gaines (born August 11, 1947) is an American journalist, author, and international publishing consultant who is best known as a magazine editor. He was the chief editor of "Time", "Life", and "People" magazines between 1987 and 1996 and subsequently the corporate editor of Time Inc. [ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,983923,00.html Time magazine “To Our Readers” column by Norman Pearlstine, January 8, 1996 ]

Gaines is a graduate of the McBurney School in New York City and the University of Michigan. His career in magazine journalism started at the "Saturday Review", followed by "Newsweek" and "People", where he was named managing editor in 1987. He was both managing editor and publisher of "Life", the first time that one person held both the chief editorial and publishing jobs at a Time-Life magazine. His reinvention of "Life" as a weekly newsmagazine for the first Persian Gulf War won widespread acclaim and led to his appointment to the editorship of "Time", making him the first person ever to run three Time-Life magazines. All three won important journalistic awards during his tenure and undertook important extensions: a television show and books program at "People", network specials and custom publishing at "Life", and at "Time" a classroom edition called "Time" for "Kids and Time Online". In his first assignment as a publishing consultant, he founded a brand extension in the men’s luxury category for American Express Publishing titled "Travel & Leisure/Golf." Based in Paris, he has since advised publishers in Europe and the Middle East as well as the United States. He has four children, three of which reside with him in Paris.

His books are works of cultural history, including "Wit’s End: Days and Nights of the Algonquin Round Table" (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977); "Evening in the Palace of Reason", which explored the conflict between faith and reason through a fateful meeting between Johann Sebastian Bach and Frederick the Great (HarperCollins, 2005) [ http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/history/0,,1385499,00.html John Banning’s review of Evening in the Palace of Reason, The Guardian, January 8, 2005] "; and For Liberty and Glory: Washington, Lafayette, and Their Revolutions" (W. W. Norton, 2007). [ [http://www2.wwnorton.com/catalog/fall07/006138.htm For Liberty and Glory (Main Page) ] ]

Gaines is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Historical Association, the Society of Eighteenth Century Historians, the Overseas Press Club, and the International Federation of the Periodical Press.

Bibliography

*"Wit’s End: Days and Nights of the Algonquin Round Table" (1977)
*"The Lives of the Piano" (1981)
*"Evening in the Palace of Reason" (2005)
*"For Liberty and Glory: Washington, Lafayette and Their Revolutions" (2007)

External links

*The Official Site * [http://jamesrgaines.com]
*A Brief History of "Time" * [http://www.univie.ac.at/Schroedinger/3_96/time01.htm]
*Reviews of "Evening in the Palace of Reason" * [http://www.jamesrgaines.com/gaines-palace-praise.htm]
*Excerpt from "For Liberty and Glory" * [http://www.jamesrgaines.com/gaines-liberty-excerpt.htm]

Footnotes