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Jim Nelson (born March 8, 1963) is an American journalist, known for his tenure as
editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
of the magazine '' GQ''.


Early career

Nelson began his journalism career in television, first working as a producer and writer at
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
and later moving to Hollywood where he worked briefly as a writer's assistant on television sitcoms. He made the shift to magazines at age thirty, starting with an internship at ''
Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...
'', from 1994 to 1997 Nelson was an editor at ''Harper’s Magazine'' under Lewis Lapham, where he was responsible for the magazine's Readings section. His writing has also appeared in ''The New York Times Magazine'', ''Gourmet'', and ''Food & Wine''. His own writing for GQ was cited in The Best American Sports Writing in 2001.


''GQ''

Nelson is the former editor-in-chief of ''GQ'', a position he held from 2003-2018. Nelson joined the magazine as a senior editor in 1997, editing the work of such writers as Andrew Corsello,
Elizabeth Gilbert Elizabeth Gilbert (born July 18, 1969) is an American journalist and author. She is best known for her 2006 memoir, ''Eat, Pray, Love'', which has sold over 12 million copies and has been translated into over 30 languages. The book was also mad ...
, Charles Bowden, and
Michael Paterniti Michael Paterniti is an American writer known for magazine articles in publications such as ''Harper's'', ''the New'' ''Yorker,'' '' GQ,'' and '' Esquire,'' as well as his book '' The Telling Room'' (2013). Paterniti lives in Portland, Maine and ...
. After working under
Art Cooper Art Cooper (October 15, 1937 – June 9, 2003) was an American journalist and magazine editor, the longtime editor of '' GQ''. Life and career Cooper was born in New York City and educated at Pennsylvania State University. In 1964 he became a repor ...
as an executive editor, Nelson was appointed by
Condé Nast Condé Nast () is a global mass media company founded in 1909 by Condé Montrose Nast, and owned by Advance Publications. Its headquarters are located at One World Trade Center in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan. The company's media ...
to replace him as editor-in-chief in 2003. Over the course of Nelson's 15 years at the helm, the magazine has been nominated for sixty-four National Magazine Awards and has won for reporting, design, photography, general excellence, the highest honor in the industry, as well as twice in the feature writing category. The November 2017 cover of ''GQ'' featuring LeBron James won Best Sports and Fitness cover. The 2017 Men of the Year cover featuring Colin Kaepernick as Citizen of Year won the Reader's Choice for Most Controversial cover. In 2018, Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah's feature, ''A Most American Terrorist: The Making of Dylann Roof'', which appeared in the September 2017 issue of ''GQ'', won a Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing. ''GQ'' has been nominated for forty-three James Beard Awards and has won for restaurant reviews and critiques, distinguished food writing, writing on wine spirits or beer, and humor. In 2016 The Daily Front Row's fourth annual Fashion and Media Awards honored Jim Nelson with the Magazine of the Year award for ''GQ''. In 2017 Ad Age named ''GQ'' a magazine of the year honoree. Adweek also named ''GQ'' "hottest men's magazine" in 2017. In 2016, Nelson launched ‘The Closer with
Keith Olbermann Keith Theodore Olbermann (; born January 27, 1959) is an American sports and political commentator and writer. Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and r ...
,’ a twice-weekly web series offering political commentary on the 2016 election and other timely news topics. After garnering more than 75 million views for ‘The Closer,’ Olbermann returned with a post-election series on GQ.com calle
‘The Resistance’
where he continued the conversation about President Trump. The series ended in 2017. Additionally, during Nelson's time at the magazine, a number of ''GQ'' stories have become both small and large-scale film productions and TV series, including ''
Concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...
'' starring Will Smith, the Netflix series ''Last Chance U'' and the film '' Only the Brave''. In 2017, NBC optioned a sitcom based on GQ editor Dan Riley's feature, ''Inside the Church of Chili’s''. GQ's webseries, ''Most Expensivest'', was also sold to Viceland. In 2017, Nelson was tapped to host an episode of the PBS icon series, ''Speakeasy'', in which he interviewed punk rock legend, Nick Lowe. He also spoke at length on the evolution of ''GQ'' and the enduring importance of long-form journalism on the Longform Podcast. Nelson resigned in 2018 and was succeeded by Will Welch.


Personal life

Nelson graduated from the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
with a B.A. in American Studies. He resides in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
with his partner, John Mario Sevilla, a dancer and
choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...
.


See also

*
Editorial board The editorial board is a group of experts, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take. Mass media At a newspaper, the editorial board usually consists of the editorial page editor, a ...
*
Fashion editor A fashion editor is a person that supervises the process of creating, developing and presenting content for the fashion department of a magazine, Web site, newspaper or television program. The work of a fashion editor can be quite varied and may ...
*
LGBT culture in New York City New York City is home to one of the largest LGBTQ populations in the world and the most prominent. Brian Silverman, the author of ''Frommer's New York City from $90 a Day,'' wrote the city has "one of the world's largest, loudest, and most power ...
*
List of LGBT people from New York City New York City is home to one of the largest LGBT populations in the world and the most prominent. Brian Silverman, the author of ''Frommer's New York City from $90 a Day,'' writes that the city has "one of the world's largest, loudest, and most ...
*
Literature review A literature review is an overview of the previously published works on a topic. The term can refer to a full scholarly paper or a section of a scholarly work such as a book, or an article. Either way, a literature review is supposed to provid ...
*
New Yorkers in journalism New York City has been called the media capital of the world. Many journalists work in Manhattan, reporting about international, American, business, entertainment, and New York metropolitan area-related matters. New Yorkers in journalism A * ...


References


External links

* * * * Sandomir, Richard (October 23, 2016)
Now at GQ, Keith Olbermann Takes His Outrage Online
''The New York Times.'' * Donnelly, Matt (October 20, 2017)
How ‘Only the Brave’ Went From Magazine Pages to the Multiplex
''The Wrap.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Jim People from Greenbelt, Maryland American magazine editors American television editors Living people 1963 births LGBT people from Maryland GQ (magazine)