Joan Kahn (April 13, 1914 – October 12, 1994) was a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

-based American author, anthologist, and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

, widely regarded as the preeminent

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

suspense Suspense is a state of mental uncertainty, anxiety, being undecided, or being doubtful. In a dramatic work, suspense is the anticipation of the outcome of a plot or of the solution to an uncertainty, puzzle, or mystery, particularly as it aff ...

editor of her time.Barkham, John
"Of Books and Authors: Joan Kahn of Dutton Co. is Leading 'Mystery Editor'"
''The Youngstown Vindicator''. September 19, 1982.Boucher, Anthony
"Criminals at Large"
''The New York Times Book Review'. November 13, 1967. Described variously as the "

doyenne Doyen and doyenne (from the French word ''doyen'', ''doyenne'' in the feminine grammatical gender) is the senior ambassador by length of service in a particular country. In the English language, the meaning of doyen (feminine form: doyenne) h ...

of suspense," "the doyenne of mystery editors," and "publishing's grande dame of detective stories,"Dudar, Helen. "Caretaker of Whodunits". ''The Los Angeles Times''. January 2, 1981 Kahn first came to prominence during her extended reign (1946-1980) at Harper & Brothers (later Harper & Row), much of it spent creating and overseeing the longstanding "Harper Novel of Suspense" series. The Joan Kahn imprint, instituted during her Harper tenure, soon became a sought-after imprimatur for mystery connoisseurs.Rule, Sheila
"Joan Kahn, Respected Editor of Mysteries, Dies"
''The New York Times''. October 13, 1994. Some of Kahn's more celebrated signings include John Creasey,

Patricia Highsmith Patricia Highsmith (January 19, 1921 – February 4, 1995) was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character Tom Ripley. She wrote 22 novel ...

, Julian Symons,

Dick Francis Richard Stanley Francis (31 October 1920 – 14 February 2010) was a British steeplechase jockey and crime writer whose novels centre on horse racing in England. After wartime service in the RAF, Francis became a full-time jump-jockey, winni ...

, and Tony Hillerman.

Early life

Born and raised in

, Kahn was the eldest child of architect Eli Jacques Kahn and Elsie

laut Laut may refer to: * Laut Island, South Kalimantan, Indonesia * Agnes Christina Laut (1871–1936), Canadian journalist, novelist, historian, and social worker * Frank Laut Frank Laut (September 27, 1884 – August 18, 1961) was a farmer and a ...

Kahn, and the sister of writer

E.J. Kahn Ely Jacques Kahn Jr. (December 4, 1916 – May 28, 1994) was an American writer with ''The New Yorker'' for five decades. Biography Born in New York City, he was the son of architect Ely Jacques Kahn, and the brother of mystery editor and antho ...

. An alumna of the Horace Mann School, the Yale School of Art,

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

, and the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

, Kahn wrote one children's book (which she also illustrated), Ladies and Gentlemen' said the Ringmaster'' (1938), and two novels, ''To Meet Miss Long'' (1943) and ''Open House'' (1946), before embarking on her editorial career.

Career

Neither immediate nor by design, Kahn's career change was, in fact, incremental, circuitous, and, on Kahn's part, entirely unwitting. Her initial employment at Harper was as a manuscript reader, only later being recruited by

Frederick Lewis Allen Frederick Lewis Allen (July 5, 1890 – February 13, 1954) was the editor of ''Harper's Magazine'' and also notable as an American historian of the first half of the twentieth century. His specialty was writing about recent and popular histo ...

as an editor 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 ...

'', before finally being brought back by Harper & Brothers to help overhaul the publisher's antiquated mystery department. Even after these respective promotions, Kahn had no inkling that her current livelihood was soon to become her life's work.Nichols, Lewis
"American Notebook: Mystery Lady"
''The New York Times''. April 28, 1968. Both her training and her aspirations at that time were primarily in the visual arts; aside from being a published author, Kahn was both a painter and a sculptor, as well as a stage and costume designer. As she would tell ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' in 1968, Kahn initially viewed the Harper job as merely a "temporary thing," and never more so than when poring through roughly 200 previously rejected manuscripts, the reevaluation of which was one of the first tasks assigned the fledgling "Harper Novels of Suspense" team. However, when one of the handful she ended up accepting, ''The Horizontal Man'' by Helen Eustis, went on to win the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Award ...

's annual

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

for best first novel of 1947, Kahn quickly reconsidered. Her initial misgivings forgotten, Kahn aggressively pursued her newfound calling. Speaking with ''

The Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' in 1990, shortly after her retirement, she recalled:

''I was so bloody lucky. Here I was, absolutely untrained and a dame. In those days, women didn't get many jobs in publishing. I was a snotty little girl... I was scared. I didn't know what I was doing. But I happened to be working for very bright people, who gave me my head. They allowed me to play.''

This freedom allowed Kahn to wield extraordinary power, purging Harper of the majority of its largely hidebound roster of mystery writers, sparing only

John Dickson Carr John Dickson Carr (November 30, 1906 – February 27, 1977) was an American author of detective stories, who also published using the pseudonyms Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson, and Roger Fairbairn. He lived in England for a number of years, and is ...

and Nicholas Blake (aka

C. Day Lewis Cecil Day-Lewis (or Day Lewis; 27 April 1904 – 22 May 1972), often written as C. Day-Lewis, was an Irish-born British poet and Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym of Nicholas Bla ...

). As an editor, Kahn was both devoted to her authors and extremely demanding – by her own account, "a nasty editor." She would not buy a book until it was fully fit to print; to that end, she worked long hours collaborating with her prospective authors. Moreover, no amount of previously successful collaborations between Kahn and a given author guaranteed publication of that author's next novel. Appearing in ''The New York Times'' in November 1967, Anthony Boucher's enthusiastic review of the first of 11 suspense anthologies Kahn would produce over the following twenty years provides a concise summary of the previous twenty:

''One of the best editors I know has never had her name on a book until this season. You know the reliable quality of the "Harper Novels of Suspense," and the disproportionate frequency with which they turn up on my Best-of-the-Year lists. Well, it is Joan Kahn who has, over the past two decades, made the Harper imprint meaningful in suspense, who made us acquainted with the giants of the modern English school (Julian Symons, Andrew Garve,
Michael Gilbert Michael Francis Gilbert (17 July 1912 – 8 February 2006) was an English solicitor and author of crime fiction. Early life and education Gilbert was born on 17 July 1912 in Billinghay, Lincolnshire, England to Bernard Samuel Gilbert, a writ ...
, etc.), who taught John Creasey and the American public how to discover each other, who introduced probably the most important new suspense writers of the 1960s (
Nicolas Freeling Nicolas Freeling (born Nicolas Davidson; 3 March 1927 – 20 July 2003), was a British crime novelist, best known as the author of the "Van der Valk" series of detective novels. A television series based on the character was produced for the Brit ...
and Dick Francis) - and if her track record with American authors is less impressive, still John Ball,
Ed Lacy Ed Lacy (August 25, 1911 - January 7, 1968), born Leonard S. Zinberg, was an American writer of crime and detective fiction. Lacy, who was Jewish American, is credited with creating "the first credible African American PI" character in fiction, ...
and
Elizabeth Linington Barbara "Elizabeth" Linington (March 11, 1921 – April 5, 1988) was an American novelist and mystery writer. She was one of the first women to write in the style of a police procedural. Biography She was born on March 11, 1921 in Aurora, Kane ...
are not precisely negligible.''

In fact, few better examples could be found of Kahn's tough-love approach to editing than her 1965 collaboration with the then largely unknown John Ball; in coaxing from him the

-winning '' In the Heat of the Night'' (itself the basis of the multi-award-winning film of the same name, starring

Sidney Poitier Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was an American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive ...

and

Rod Steiger Rodney Stephen Steiger (; April 14, 1925July 9, 2002, aged 77) was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Cited as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars," he is closely assoc ...

), Kahn's accomplishment, at least as perceived by critic and fellow editor

Otto Penzler Otto Penzler (born July 8, 1942) is a German-born American editor of mystery fiction, and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City. Biography Born in Germany to a German-American mother and a German father, Penzler moved to The B ...

, was Svengali-like:

''Ball, in spite of creating the iconic
Virgil Tibbs John Dudley Ball Jr. (July 8, 1911 – October 15, 1988) was an American writer best known for mystery novels involving the African-American police detective Virgil Tibbs. Tibbs was introduced in the 1965 novel ''In the Heat of the Night'', which ...
, was an excruciatingly bad writer, his prose more wooden than
Sherwood Forest Sherwood Forest is a royal forest in Nottinghamshire, England, famous because of its historic association with the legend of Robin Hood. The area has been wooded since the end of the Last Glacial Period (as attested by pollen sampling cores ...
. He had a terrific idea for a novel, assigning a black policeman down South to work with a redneck sheriff, and sent it off to the greatest mystery editor who ever lived, Joan Kahn. She painstakingly worked with Ball to rewrite again and again, finally pulling a book out of him that was good enough to win the Edgar Allan Poe Award.''

Two of Kahn's key seventies signings, Tony Hillerman and Joseph Hansen, not only unleashed two hitherto frustrated novelists, but also introduced two groundbreaking American protagonists, Hillerman's

Navajo Tribal Police The Navajo Nation Police (formerly known as the Navajo Tribal Police) is the law enforcement agency on the Navajo Nation in the Southwestern United States. It is under the Navajo Division of Public Safety. It is headed by a Chief of Police, si ...

Lieutenant

Joe Leaphorn Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn is a fictional character created by the twentieth-century American mystery writer Tony Hillerman; he is one of two officers of the Navajo Tribal Police who are featured in a number of Hillerman's novels. The other officer i ...

and Joseph Hansen's unapologetically gay insurance investigator Dave Brandstetter. Looking back in 1985, fifteen years after the fact, and again almost two decades later, Hansen recalls both the initial agonizing delay in publication and the ensuing mutual incredulity when Kahn finally came to the rescue:

''But before there were reviews, there had to be a published book. And that took some doing. It also took three years. Publishers were leery of my matter-of-fact, non-apologetic approach to a subject that the rule book said had to be treated sensationally or not at all. At last a brave lady named Joan Kahn took a chance on me. When Kahn, magisterial mystery editor at Harper & Row, accepted this novel for publication, she wrote my agent, "Where's this writer been hiding?" I had to laugh to keep from crying. Hiding was the last thing I wanted to do... I'd been writing for 46 years.''

Hillerman had an analogous tale to tell (a three-year travail, complete with Kahn cast as the deus ex machina), recounted shortly after his death by Jack Adrian in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'':

''His first book, ''
The Blessing Way ''The Blessing Way'' is the first crime fiction novel in the Joe Leaphorn / Jim Chee Navajo Tribal Police series by Tony Hillerman. First published in 1970, it introduces the character of officer Joe Leaphorn. Two anthropology professors from N ...
'' (1970), took him three years to write and then three months to rewrite after Joan Kahn, the mystery editor at Harper's, sent him a detailed critique, telling him to "beef up" one of his secondary characters. "Ironically," Hillerman said, "that character was Joe Leaphorn. I'd originally had a white anthropologist as the protagonist. I owe my career to Joan Kahn."''

The exact circumstances of Kahn's departure from Harper & Row in early 1980 remain unclear; contemporary press accounts offer no specifics. For her part, speaking with the ''Los Angeles Times'' in December of that year, Kahn suggests the move was her choice, a reluctant response to Harper's increasingly bottom-line orientation:

''I left Harper with my heart breaking, but it was getting bigger and bigger. Since the only thing I really give a damn about is the authors, and they weren't being taken care of, I thought I'd better go and find a place that would love them more. I think little places can afford to do that.''

However, in a 2011 obituary for editor

Ruth Cavin Ruth Cavin (October 15, 1918 – January 9, 2011) was an American book editor who worked as an associate publisher of Thomas Dunne Books, where she started working at age 70 and oversaw the publication of 900 books. Mystery fiction was her spec ...

, a recollection by Thomas McCormack (formerly Kahn's colleague at Harper, and later the CEO at

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

, where Kahn would finish her career), is cited to the effect that, in 1980, Kahn, then 65, had simply been "retired" by her longtime employers. In any event, after leaving Harper, Kahn worked briefly at Ticknor & Fields, and then

E.P. Dutton E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group. Creator Edward Payson Dutton (January 4, ...

, before landing, in early 1983, at St Martin's, where she would remain until her retirement six years later. Accompanying Kahn through her many relocations were a number of her more recent discoveries from Harper, including Jack S. Scott, Richard Bulliet, E. Richard Johnson, Herbert Resnicow,

Jonathan Gash John Grant (born 1933), professionally known under pen name Jonathan Gash, is a British doctor and writer, best known as the author of the Lovejoy series that was adapted to television by Ian La Frenais He has also written under the name of Grah ...

, and Jane Langton, as well two Ticknor signatories, H. Paul Jeffers and

Patrick McGinley Patrick McGinley (born 1937) is an Irish novelist, born in Glencolumbkille, Ireland. After teaching in Ireland, McGinley moved to England in the 1960s and settled in Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home countie ...

. Towards the end of her life, Kahn received two special awards from the

– first, in 1985, the Ellery Queen Award for "outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry," and, on the occasion of her retirement in 1989, a special

in recognition of Kahn's distinguished career.

Personal life

Kahn never married and had no children. After a brief illness, she died on October 12, 1994, in Manhattan. Kahn was survived by her younger sister, artist Olivia Kahn, and three nephews. Olivia had also been Joan's colleague at Harper, acting as an advisor and manuscript reader, and shortly after her sister's death, would contribute many of her papers both to Bowling Green State University and to Joan's Alma mater Yale.

Bibliography

Author

Children's books

*''"Ladies and Gentlemen," said the Ringmaster'' (1938) *''Seesaw'' (1964) *''You Can't Catch Me'' (1976) *''Hi, Jock, Run Around the Block'' (1978)

Novels

*''To Meet Miss Long'' (1943) *''Open House'' (1946)

Editor

Anthologies

*''The Edge of the Chair'' (1967) *''Hanging By a Thread'' (1969) *''Some Things Dark and Dangerous'' (1970)Cromie, Alice
"Books Today: Crime on my Hands"
''The Chicago Tribune''. January 14, 1971. *''Some Things Fierce and Fatal'' (1971) *''Some Things Strange and Sinister'' (1973) *''Trial and Terror'' (1973) *''Open at Your Own Risk'' (1975) *''Some Things Weird and Wicked'' (1976) *''Chilling and Killing'' (1978) *''Handle With Care: Frightening Stories'' (1985) *''Ready or Not: Here Come Fourteen Frightening Stories!'' (1987)

Notes

References

External links

at Bowling Green State University * Joan Kahn Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kahn, Joan 1914 births 1994 deaths American book editors American children's writers 20th-century American novelists Women anthologists Art Students League of New York alumni Barnard College alumni Horace Mann School alumni Writers from Manhattan Yale School of Art alumni American women novelists American women children's writers 20th-century American women writers Novelists from New York (state)