Nina Bourne (1916–2010) was a publishing executive for more than 70 years for both

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 ...

and

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

. She was known for her marketing and advertising campaigns for many books including ''

Catch-22 ''Catch-22'' is a satirical war novel by American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953; the novel was first published in 1961. Often cited as one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century, it uses a distinctive non-chr ...

'' and the '' Eloise'' series of children's books.

Early and personal life

Nina Bourne was born on June 16, 1916, in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

and arrived in

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 * '' ...

when she was five years old. Bourne attended the Fieldston School and

Radcliffe Radcliffe or Radcliff may refer to: Places * Radcliffe Line, a border between India and Pakistan United Kingdom * Radcliffe, Greater Manchester ** Radcliffe Tower, the remains of a medieval manor house in the town ** Radcliffe tram stop * ...

, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1937. Bourne did not marry but "adopted" many of her friend's children as her own.

Career

Bourne began her career in 1939 at Simon & Schuster by writing an application letter in the form of a poem that incorporated the names of the publisher's top authors and bestselling book titles. Her first position was as a secretary to co-founder Richard Simon. Working with Jack Goodman, she developed a flair for writing advertising copy. Bourne described her early days at Simon & Schuster as magic, "I was so taken with the snazzy ads written by

Dick Simon Richard Raymond Simon (born September 21, 1933) is retired American auto racing driver and racing team owner. Simon drove Indy cars in USAC and CART, and made 17 starts at the Indianapolis 500. At the 1988 Indianapolis 500, Simon set a record as ...

. We called him 'Boss,' because he didn't have to please anybody. He just wrote. And his ads were complete and straightforward and conversational and factual, and terrific." After Goodman's death in 1957 Bourne took over writing ''The Inner Sanctum'', a news-like advertorial that appeared in both the ''

New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'' and ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

''. The Inner Sanctum was also the name of a Simon & Schuster mystery line and Max Schuster and Dick Simon were the original authors for the column. Bourne created ad campaigns for many blockbuster titles including ''

'', '' Eloise'', and ''

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany'' is a book by American journalist William L. Shirer in which the author chronicles the rise and fall of Nazi Germany from the birth of Adolf Hitler in 1889 to the end of World Wa ...

''. Bourne's campaign for ''Catch-22'' beginning in 1961 is now considered to be a classic for both advertising and publishing students. A personal champion for the book, Bourne placed large advertisements that reported on its progress in the marketplace with a listing of prominent authors who praised the book and also quoting reviews from ordinary readers. This campaign continued for over a year reporting with progress reports to the past and future readers and even included a Happy Birthday notice. The hardcover only sold 35,000 in its first print run but picked up steam when published in paperback by

Dell Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...

. The paperback sold almost a million copies by 1962. Of Catch-22, Bourne said to Gottlieb, "I'm like the demented governess who thinks the baby is her own." Bourne created the advertising campaign for

Kay Thompson Kay Thompson (born Catherine Louise Fink; November 9, 1909''"In the St. Louis Registry of Births, in the volume covering the period July 1909 – January 1910, on page 85, is the following entry: "Catherine Louise Fink, November 9, 1909."''

's ''Eloise'' books with the tag line, "A book for precocious grown-ups." Bourne also came up with the title for the book ''
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany'' is a book by American journalist William L. Shirer in which the author chronicles the rise and fall of Nazi Germany from the birth of Adolf Hitler in 1889 to the end of World Wa ...
''. The author,
William Shirer William Lawrence Shirer (; February 23, 1904 – December 28, 1993) was an American journalist and war correspondent. He wrote ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'', a history of Nazi Germany that has been read by many and cited in scholarly w ...
, was working on the book with editor Joe Barnes with the tentative title of ''Hitler's Nightmare Empire.'' No one liked the title and it was Bourne who after looking at the cover suggested they use the sub-title as the full title. In 1966, Bourne was appointed the vice-president of advertising for Simon & Schuster. In 1968, Gottlieb, Bourne, and Schulte moved to Alfred A. Knopf after Bob Bernstein the CEO of Random House said to them, "Other people can offer you a job. I can offer you a publishing house. If you come, the three of you can run Knopf." Bourne remained vice-president until 2009. Of her long-term stay, Bourne said to Jane Friedman, "The most amazing thing happened to me, Jane. One day I went downstairs for a pack of cigarettes at Simon & Schuster, and by the time I got upstairs twenty-nine years had gone by." At Knopf, Bourne developed their brand featuring large, clean, heavily bordered ads in black and white with minimal copy. Upon meeting Bourne in 2005,
Al Silverman Elwyn Harmon Silverman (12 April 1926 – 10 March 2019), known as Al Silverman, was a noted sports writer, the author of 10 books and numerous essays published in, among other publications, Playboy, Saga, and Sport magazine. Among his publications ...
described her, "Nina came out of the elevator with a little smile on her face. It had to be her. Looking closer, I saw that her face was absolutely untouched by age. She had a small hat over small bangs, giving her that Anita Loos look. But she was prettier than Loos. Eighty-nine years old she was still working for Knopf four days a week, doing the same work she had done for Simon & Schuster way back when--reading manuscripts, writing flap copy, helping with the ads, originating book titles, fighting for the books she thought must be acquired." Alice Quinn, a former senior editor for Knopf and also the poetry editor at ''
the New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' described Bourne as a "great, great mentor to me and many other people." Aside from her career in publishing, Bourne occasionally published light verse in ''
the New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
''.

References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourne, Nina 1916 births 2010 deaths American publishing chief executives American book publishers (people) Polish emigrants to the United States American marketing people Marketing women Radcliffe College alumni People from Warsaw 20th-century American women writers American women chief executives 21st-century American women