Ashbel Green (March 15, 1928 – September 18, 2012) was an American book editor.Lackeos, Nick.
The Write Stuff: Experts share advice on how to get a book published
, ''Montgomery Advertiser'', Montgomery, Alabama, volume 167, number 303, October 30, 1994, page 7H and 11H. via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

He was a senior editor and vice president at

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

. He oversaw the publication of over 500 books including books by of

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...

and

Walter Cronkite Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' for 19 years (1962–1981). During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the mo ...

's autobiography. He was "one of the finest history editors in all of American history… ndhelped make the Knopf imprint the most distinguished in the United States."

Early life

Green was born in

Manhattan, New York Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. He was named after his ancestor, Ashbel Green (1762-1848), a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister. He graduated from

Kent School Kent School is a private, co-educational, college preparatory boarding school in Kent, Connecticut, United States. Frederick Herbert Sill established the school in 1906. It is affiliated with the Episcopal Church of the United States. Acade ...

in 1945. He served in the Navy Reserve from 1946 to 1948. He received a bachelor's in 1950 from Columbia College. There, he was a member of St. Anthony Hall, the Humanist Club, the Activities Council, and the University Student Council. He was also president of

WKCR WKCR-FM (89.9 FM) is a radio station licensed to New York, New York, United States. The station is owned by Columbia University and serves the New York metropolitan area. Founded in 1941, the station traces its history back to 1908 with the fir ...

radio and was on the staff ''Spectator''. He was a member of the varsity tennis and swimming teams. He also earned a master's from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in East European history in 1952.

Career

He began his career in the publishing business at Prentice Hall, working in publicity. In 1964, he started with

which was owned by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

. In 1994, he was a senior editor and vice president of Random House. Green specialized in editing autobiographies, biographies, current affairs, history, and public policy. He shepherded President George H. W. Bush and U.S. national security advisor

Brent Scowcroft Brent Scowcroft (; March 19, 1925August 6, 2020) was a United States Air Force officer who was a two-time United States National Security Advisor, first under U.S. President Gerald Ford and then under George H. W. Bush. He served as Military As ...

for '' A World Transformed'' in 1998. He also worked with historian

Joseph J. Ellis Joseph John-Michael Ellis III (born July 18, 1943) is an American historian whose work focuses on the lives and times of the founders of the United States of America. '' American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson'' won a National Boo ...

on ''Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation'' which won a Pulitzer Prize for History in 2000. Green had a particular interest in international writers, overseeing books by

Milovan Djilas Milovan Djilas (; , ; 12 June 1911 – 30 April 1995) was a Yugoslav communist politician, theorist and author. He was a key figure in the Partisan movement during World War II, as well as in the post-war government. A self-identified democrat ...

, Vaclav Havel,

, Andrei D. Sakharov, and

Jacobo Timerman Jacobo Timerman (6 January 1923 – 11 November 1999), was a Soviet-born Argentine publisher, journalist, and author, who is most noted for his confronting and reporting the atrocities of the Argentine military regime's Dirty War during a perio ...

. He actually stole

Márquez Márquez or Marquez is a surname of Spanish origin, meaning "son of Marcos or Marcus". Its Portuguese equivalent is Marques. It should not be confused with the surname Marqués, also of Spanish origin. People * Adrian Garcia Marquez, American s ...

from

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

based on his experience with

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...

authors. In the realm of mystery novels, Green helped Ross Macdonald develop from a modestly-selling mystery writer to a best-selling novelist. He retired in 2007 as senior editor and vice president.Knopf editor Ashbel Green to retire
, ''The Desert Sun'', Palm Springs, California, 81st year, number 40, September 13, 2007, page E2. via

However, he continued to work with a small number of select authors including

Joseph Ellis Joseph John-Michael Ellis III (born July 18, 1943) is an American historian whose work focuses on the lives and times of the founders of the United States of America. '' American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson'' won a National Boo ...

Personal life

Green married Anna Welsh McCagg. Their children were a son, Ashbel, and a daughter, Alison. Anna died in 1995. Green then married Elizabeth Osha. They lived in Stonington, Connecticut. Green was chair of the publications committee for Columbia University's year-long anniversary, Columbia 250. As chair of the Publications Committee for the 250th, he edited ''My Columbia: Reminiscences of University Life'' about Columbia University."My Columbia"
Columbia University Press. Green died in

Westerly, Rhode Island Westerly is a town on the southwestern shoreline of Washington County, Rhode Island, first settled by English colonists in 1661 and incorporated as a municipality in 1669. It is a beachfront community on the south shore of the state with a popula ...

of cardiac arrest in 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Ashbel 1929 births 2012 deaths American book editors Columbia College (New York) alumni St. Anthony Hall Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Kent School alumni United States Navy reservists United States Navy sailors People from Manhattan People from Stonington, Connecticut