Ashbel Green | |
---|---|
Born | March 15, 1928 |
Died | September 18, 2012
Westerly, Rhode Island, U.S. | (aged 84)
Education | Columbia University (BA, MA) |
Alma mater | Kent School |
Occupation | Book Editor |
Years active | 1964 - 2017 |
Employer | Alfred A. Knopf |
Ashbel Green (March 15, 1928 – September 18, 2012) was an American book editor. [1] [2] He was a senior editor and vice president at Alfred A. Knopf. [3] [2] He oversaw the publication of over 500 books including books by of Gabriel García Márquez and Walter Cronkite's autobiography. [2] He was "one of the finest history editors in all of American history…[and] helped make the Knopf imprint the most distinguished in the United States." [4]
Green was born in Manhattan, New York. [2] He was named after his ancestor, Ashbel Green (1762-1848), a Presbyterian minister. [2]
He graduated from Kent School in 1945. [4] He served in the Navy Reserve from 1946 to 1948. [4] [2] He received a bachelor's in 1950 from Columbia College. [4] There, he was a member of St. Anthony Hall, the Humanist Club, the Activities Council, and the University Student Council. [3] [4] He was also president of WKCR radio and was on the staff Spectator. [4] He was a member of the varsity tennis and swimming teams. [4]
He also earned a master's from Columbia University in East European history in 1952. [4] [3]
He began his career in the publishing business at Prentice Hall, working in publicity. [2] In 1964, he started with Alfred A. Knopf which was owned by Random House. [2] [5] In 1994, he was a senior editor and vice president of Random House. [1]
Green specialized in editing autobiographies, biographies, current affairs, history, and public policy. [4] He shepherded President George H. W. Bush and U.S. national security advisor Brent Scowcroft for A World Transformed in 1998. [2] He also worked with historian Joseph J. Ellis on Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation which won a Pulitzer Prize for History in 2000. [2]
Green had a particular interest in international writers, overseeing books by Milovan Djilas, Vaclav Havel, Gabriel García Márquez, Andrei D. Sakharov, and Jacobo Timerman. [2] He actually stole Márquez from Harper & Row based on his experience with Latin American authors. [2] In the realm of mystery novels, Green helped Ross Macdonald develop from a modestly-selling mystery writer to a best-selling novelist. [2]
He retired in 2007 as senior editor and vice president. [2] [5] However, he continued to work with a small number of select authors including Joseph Ellis. [2] [5]
Green married Anna Welsh McCagg. [2] Their children were a son, Ashbel, and a daughter, Alison. [2] Anna died in 1995. [2] Green then married Elizabeth Osha. [2] They lived in Stonington, Connecticut. [2]
Green was chair of the publications committee for Columbia University's year-long anniversary, Columbia 250. [4] As chair of the Publications Committee for the 250th, he edited My Columbia: Reminiscences of University Life about Columbia University. [6] [4]
Green died in Westerly, Rhode Island of cardiac arrest in 2012. [2]