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 journalism ...

and editor whose work focuses on the

American upper class The American upper class is a social group within the United States consisting of people who have the highest social rank, primarily due to economic wealth. The American upper class is distinguished from the rest of the population due to the fa ...

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 follo ...

Career

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

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', ''

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 unicyclist ...

'' 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 ...

'', writing about fashion in feature stories and a weekly column, "Notes on Fashion". In 1988, he became a contributing editor of ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'' 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 Presiden ...

'', 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''. He worked for '' Crain's New York Business'' 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 Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'', '' 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 A baby boom is a period marked by a significant increase of birth rate. This demographic phenomenon is usually ascribed within certain geographical bounds of defined national and cultural populations. People born during these periods are often ca ...

, the fashion designer

Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren, ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for the Ralph Lauren Corporation, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He has become well known for his co ...

, 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 largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. 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. He is currently finishing a book on a dozen prominent Colonial American families for the publisher Grove Atlantic.

Personal life

Gross is married to Barbara Hodes. His sister is

Jane Gross Jane Gross (September 10, 1947 – November 9, 2022) was an American sportswriter. She wrote for ''Newsday'' and ''The New York Times''. She was the first woman known to have entered a professional basketball locker room. In February 1975, as a r ...

, formerly a reporter and bureau chief at ''The New York Times''. 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 o ...

, was also a journalist, a syndicated sports columnist for the ''New York Post'' and an author.

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 publ ...

), 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 Rando ...

, 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

'' (

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 Cor ...

, 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 Philip Alexander Gibney (; born October 23, 1953) is an American documentary film director and producer. In 2010, ''Esquire'' magazine said Gibney "is becoming the most important documentarian of our time". Gibney's works as director include '' ...

that explores the theme of

income inequality in the United States Income inequality in the United States is the extent to which income is distributed in differing amounts among the American population. It has fluctuated considerably since measurements began around 1915, moving in an arc between peaks in t ...

. 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