Donald Simon Klopfer (January 23, 1902 – May 30, 1986) was an American publisher, one of the founders of American publishing firm

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 ...

, along with

Bennett Cerf Bennett Alfred Cerf (May 25, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was an American writer, publisher, and co-founder of the American publishing firm Random House. Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns, for regular personal appearanc ...

. Klopfer was the quiet inside businessman to Cerf's quite-visible and gregarious "Mr. Outside" personality.

Background

Donald Simon Klopfer was born on 23 January 1902 in New York City to

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

parents, Simon Klopfer and Stella Klopfer Jacobson (née Danzinger). He entered Columbia College but transferred to

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

. He entered with the class of 1922 but did not graduate from

either.

Career

As a young man, Klopfer worked as a treasurer from 1921 to 1925 for his step-father who was a diamond cutter at the United Diamond Works, Inc. in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area. In 1925, his friend

presented with him an opportunity to buy for $200,000 the classic

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

Modern Library The Modern Library is an American book publishing imprint and formerly the parent company of Random House. Founded in 1917 by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright as an imprint of their publishing company Boni & Liveright, Modern Library became an ...

, from

Boni & Liveright Boni & Liveright (pronounced "BONE-eye" and "LIV-right") is an American trade book publisher established in 1917 in New York City by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright. Over the next sixteen years the firm, which changed its name to Horace Live ...

. Klopfer and Cerf formed a partnership, completed the purchase, and went into business as 50/50 partners. They increased the series' popularity, and in 1927 began publishing general trade books which they selected "at random." Thus began their publishing business, which in time they named

. It used as its logo a little house drawn by Cerf's friend and fellow Columbia alumnus

Rockwell Kent Rockwell Kent (June 21, 1882 – March 13, 1971) was an American painter, printmaker, illustrator, writer, sailor, adventurer and voyager. Biography Rockwell Kent was born in Tarrytown, New York. Kent was of English descent. He lived much of ...

. Cerf's talent in building and maintaining relationships brought contracts with such writers as

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most of ...

John O'Hara John Henry O'Hara (January 31, 1905 – April 11, 1970) was one of America's most prolific writers of short stories, credited with helping to invent ''The New Yorker'' magazine short story style.John O'Hara: Stories, Charles McGrath, ed., The L ...

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier ...

James Michener James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales and ...

Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, ...

Theodor Seuss Geisel Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss"
''

From 1942 to 1945, Klopfer served as a

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

major in the European Theater. Cerf retired in 1970, with Klopfer succeeding him as chairman; he retired in 1975.

Personal life and death

Klopfer's first wife, Florence Selwyn, died in 1979, and Klopfer married the well-known writer and Democratic political activist Katie Louchheim on 19 July 1981. Cerf and Klopfer were both prominent

businessmen. In 1967, Klopfer resigned from the

American Council for Judaism The American Council for Judaism (ACJ) is an organization of American Jews. In particular, it is notable for its historical opposition to Zionism, though it is Zionist today. The ACJ has also championed women's rights, including the right for women ...

after the Council issued a statement which Klopfer and other Jewish leaders found to be repugnant. He was a member of the

Harmonie Club The Harmonie Club is a private social club in New York City. Founded in 1852, the club is the second oldest social club in New York. It is located at 4 East 60th Street, in a building designed by Stanford White. History Originally named the ...

. Klopfer died at

Lenox Hill Hospital Lenox Hill Hospital (LHH) is a nationally ranked 450-bed non-profit, tertiary, research and academic medical center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, servicing the tri-state area. LHH is one of the region's many unive ...

in New York, New York, on May 30, 1986, aged 84. Klopfer was survived by his second wife, a step-son, C.A. "Tony" Wimpfheimer (with his first wife), and a daughter, Lois Klopfer Levy.New York Times: "Paid Notice: Deaths LEVY, LOIS K"
June 14, 2010

Awards

Before his death, Klopfer received an honorary degree by

, in spite of never having completed his degree requirements.

Works

In 2012,

published a book of collected

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

letters titled ''Dear Donald, Dear Bennett: The Wartime Correspondence of Donald Klopfer and Bennett Cerf''. *''Dear Donald, Dear Bennett: the wartime correspondence of Donald Klopfer and Bennett Cerf'' (New York: Random House, 2002).

References

External links

Donald Klopfer
interviewed by Lucy Rosenthal for the Fall, 1984 issue of The Missouri Review. {{DEFAULTSORT:Klopfer, Donald 1902 births 1986 deaths American book publishers (people) 20th-century American Jews Williams College alumni Random House 20th-century American businesspeople Columbia College (New York) alumni