Ashbel Green | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 15, 1928 |
| Died | September 18, 2012(2012-09-18) (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 |
Ashbel Green (March 15, 1928 – September 18, 2012) was an American book editor.[1][2] He was a senior editor and vice president atAlfred A. Knopf.[3][2] He oversaw the publication of over 500 books including books by ofGabriel García Márquez andWalter 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 inManhattan, New York.[2] He was named after his ancestor,Ashbel Green (1762-1848), aPresbyterian minister.[2]
He graduated fromKent School in 1945.[4] He served in theNavy Reserve from 1946 to 1948.[4][2] He received a bachelor's in 1950 fromColumbia College.[4] There, he was a member ofSt. Anthony Hall, the Humanist Club, the Activities Council, and the University Student Council.[3][4] He was also president ofWKCR radio and was on the staffSpectator.[4] He was a member of the varsity tennis and swimming teams.[4]
He also earned a master's fromColumbia University in East European history in 1952.[4][3]
He began his career in the publishing business atPrentice Hall, working in publicity.[2] In 1964, he started withAlfred A. Knopf which was owned byRandom 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 PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush and U.S. national security advisorBrent Scowcroft forA World Transformed in 1998.[2] He also worked with historianJoseph J. Ellis onFounding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation which won aPulitzer Prize for History in 2000.[2]
Green had a particular interest in international writers, overseeing books byMilovan Djilas,Vaclav Havel,Gabriel García Márquez,Andrei D. Sakharov, andJacobo Timerman.[2] He actually stoleMárquez fromHarper & Row based on his experience withLatin American authors.[2] In the realm of mystery novels, Green helpedRoss 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 includingJoseph 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 inStonington, 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 editedMy Columbia: Reminiscences of University Life about Columbia University.[6][4]
Green died inWesterly, Rhode Island of cardiac arrest in 2012.[2]
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