Ashbel Green (editor)
American book editor (1928–2012)
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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 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]
Ashbel Green | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 15, 1928 Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Died | September 18, 2012 (aged 84) Westerly, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Education | Columbia University (BA, MA) |
| Alma mater | Kent School |
| Occupation | Book editor |
| Years active | 1964–2017 |
| Employer | Alfred A. Knopf |
Early life
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]
Career
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]
Personal life
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]