Michael Robert Gross is an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and editor whose work focuses on the American upper class.

Early life

Gross has a B.A. in History from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...

Career

Early in his career, Michael Gross wrote about rock music for magazines. From 1973, his work appeared primarily in ''

Crawdaddy! ''Crawdaddy'' was an American rock music magazine launched in 1966. It was created by Paul Williams, a Swarthmore College student at the time, in response to the increasing sophistication and cultural influence of popular music. The magazine w ...

'', the '' New Musical Express'', ''

Zoo World ''Zoo World'' was an American bi-weekly rock music magazine that operated between 1971 and 1975. Available throughout the United States, it was published in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and intended as a rival to ''Rolling Stone''. In early issues of ...

'', ''Rock'', ''Club'', ''

Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...

'' and '' Swank''. In addition to writing features for ''Circus'' magazine's sister publication, '' Circus Raves'', during the mid 1970s, he served as editor-in-chief of ''Rock'' in 1976 and 1977. Gross was the editor of the ''Fire Island News'', a weekly newspaper in a New York summer colony, in 1978. He then began covering fashion photography for ''Photo District News'' and subsequently wrote the column "Fashion Statements" for ''Manhattan, Inc.'', a short-lived business magazine. In 1985, he went to work for ''

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 d ...

'', writing about fashion in feature stories and a weekly column, "Notes on Fashion". In 1988, he became a contributing editor of '' New York'' magazine, covering fashion and the world of the rich and famous. In 2000, he was briefly a senior editor of ''

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

'', a political magazine. In 2002, he wrote a gossip column, "The Word", for the New York '' Daily News''. From 2002 until 2010, he edited the written content of ''Bergdorf Goodman Magazine''.Mgross.com
/ref> He worked for ''

Crain's New York Business Crain Communications Inc is an American multi-industry publishing conglomerate based in Detroit, Michigan, United States, with 13 non-US subsidiaries. History Gustavus Dedman (G.D.) Crain, Jr. ( Gustavus Demetrious Crain, Jr.; 1885–1973), pre ...

'' as a columnist from 2010 to 2012. Gross was also the real estate editor and a monthly columnist for ''Avenue'' magazine, its editor-in-chief from October 2016 until March 2019, and a contributing editor of ''Travel and Leisure'' magazine from 1997 until 2014. In 2015, he was named a contributing editor of ''Departures''. In addition to ''The New York Times'' and ''New York'', he has written for '' Esquire'', '' GQ'', '' Vanity Fair'', and '' Town & Country.Who's Who 2009
Gross is the author of the bestsellers ''Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women'' and ''740 Park: The Story of the World's Richest Apartment Building''. He has also written books on the Baby Boom, the fashion designer Ralph Lauren, the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

and estates in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. In 2014, Gross published a book on the luxury condominium building

15 Central Park West 15 Central Park West (also known as 15 CPW) is a luxury residential condominium along Central Park West, between 61st and 62nd Streets adjacent to Central Park, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was constructed from 2005 t ...

, with the title ''House of Outrageous Fortune''. It reached number 20 on the ''New York Times'' Non-Fiction Best Seller list. In July 2016, Gross published ''Focus: The Secret, Sexy, Sometimes Sordid World of Fashion Photographers'' through Simon & Schuster. His next book “Flight of the WASP: The Rise, Fall and Future of America’s Original Ruling Class,” about a dozen prominent Colonial American families over 400 years, will be published in November 2023 by Atlantic Monthly Press.

Personal life

Gross is married to Barbara Hodes. His sister, the late Jane Gross, a reporter and bureau chief at ''The New York Times,'' and their father,

Milton Gross Milton Gross (February 13, 1912 – May 9, 1973) was an American sportswriter and author who wrote a nationally syndicated column for the ''New York Post''. He previously worked as the beat reporter for the New York Yankees and wrote a number ...

, a syndicated sports columnist for the ''New York Post,'' were also authors.

Works

* '' Focus: The Sexy, Secret, Sometimes Sordid World of Fashion Photographers'', Atria Books (

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

), 2016 * ''

House of Outrageous Fortune ''House of Outrageous Fortune: Fifteen Central Park West, the World's Most Powerful Address'' is a non-fiction book by American writer Michael Gross. The book was initially published on March 11, 2014 by Atria Books. Background The book is ded ...

'', on

, Atria Books (

), 2014 *'' Unreal Estate: Money, Ambition and the Lust for Land in Los Angeles'' (

Broadway Books Broadway Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a Division of Random House, Inc., released its first list in Fall, 1996. Broadway was founded in 1995 as a unit of Bantam Doubleday Dell a unit of Bertelsmann. Bertelsmann acquired Rand ...

, 2011) *'' Rogues' Gallery: The Secret Story of the Lust, Lies, Greed and Betrayals That Made the Metropolitan Museum of Art'', the paperback edition of a book first published in hardcover with the subtitle ''The Secret History of the Moguls and the Money That Made the Metropolitan Museum'', an unauthorized social history of the

in New York City (

, 2009). *'' 740 Park: The Story of the World's Richest Apartment Building'' (

, 2005) *''Genuine Authentic: The Real Life of Ralph Lauren'' (

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

, 2002) *''My Generation: Fifty Years of Sex, Drugs, Rock, Revolution, Glamour, Greed, Valor, Faith and Silicon Chips'' ( Cliff Street Books, 2000) *''Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women'' ( William Morrow, 1995).

Film adaptations

*''740 Park'' inspired '' Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream'', the documentary directed by Alex Gibney that explores the theme of income inequality in the United States. The film was produced for the Why Poverty? documentary project aired on public television networks around the world in fall 2012.

References

External links

MGross.com
Official Michael Gross web site
Michael Gross on ObsessedTV
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gross, Michael 1952 births Living people 21st-century American journalists American fashion journalists American magazine editors American music journalists Writers from New York City Vassar College alumni American male journalists 21st-century American male writers