Pascal Avram "Pat" Covici (November 4, 1885–October 14, 1964) was a Romanian Jewish-American book publisher and editor, best known for his close associations with authors such as

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...

Saul Bellow Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; 10 July 1915 – 5 April 2005) was a Canadian-born American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only wr ...

, and many more noted American literary figures, mainly through his position at

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim and then acquire ...

Early life

Covici, known to his friends as "Kai," was born on November 4, 1885, in

Botoșani Botoșani () is the capital city of Botoșani County, in the northern part of Western Moldavia, Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu, Nicolae Iorga and Grigore Antipa. ...

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

. He was the son of

vintner A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to deter ...

Wolf Covici and Schifra Barish. At the age of twelve, his family immigrated to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

where his six brothers owned and managed a number of retail stores. He studied at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

but did not graduate from either school, working instead at his brothers' stores.

Early publishing career

For several years, he published a monthly newspaper in

Bradenton Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698. History Late 18th and early 19th centuries A settlement established by Maroons or escaped sl ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. In 1922, together with partner Billy McGee, he started a publishing company and bookstore in Chicago. The store became a popular spot for writers, and the company published special, limited edition books, often created for collectors.

Ben Hecht Ben Hecht (; February 28, 1894 – April 18, 1964) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist, and novelist. A successful journalist in his youth, he went on to write 35 books and some of the most enjoyed screenplay ...

's 1922 novel, ''Fantazius Mallare'', published by the firm, was labeled obscene, restricted, and confiscated by post office officials. Hecht, the illustrator Wallace Smith, and the publishers were arrested. They pleaded

no contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal Trial (law), trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the def ...

, and had to pay a fine of $1,000. In 1928 he published '' The Wild Party'' by

Joseph Moncure March Joseph Moncure March (July 27, 1899 New York City - February 14, 1977 Los Angeles, California) was an American poet and essayist, best known for his long narrative poems '' The Wild Party'' and '' The Set-Up''. Life After serving in World War ...

. The poem was considered lewd and was banned in a number of places, including

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

New firm and controversy

When McGee left the company due to health issues in 1924, Covici continued to publish under Pascal Covici, Inc. Several years later, he began a firm with

Donald Friede Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...

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 ...

. The play ''

The Front Page ''The Front Page'' is a Broadway comedy about newspaper reporters on the police beat. Written by former Chicago reporters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, it was first produced in 1928 and has been adapted for the cinema several times. Plot The ...

'' by Hecht and Charles MacArthur and the novel ''

The Well of Loneliness ''The Well of Loneliness'' is a lesbian novel by British author Radclyffe Hall that was first published in 1928 by Jonathan Cape. It follows the life of Stephen Gordon, an Englishwoman from an upper-class family whose " sexual inversion" (homo ...

'' by

Radclyffe Hall Marguerite Antonia Radclyffe Hall (12 August 1880 – 7 October 1943) was an English poet and author, best known for the novel ''The Well of Loneliness'', a groundbreaking work in lesbian literature. In adulthood, Hall often went by the name Jo ...

garnered the company quick success. ''The Well of Loneliness'' was seized from Covici-Friede's offices after Friede sold a copy to John Saxton Sumner of the

New York Society for the Suppression of Vice The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice (NYSSV or SSV) was an institution dedicated to supervising the morality of the public, founded in 1873. Its specific mission was to monitor compliance with state laws and work with the courts and di ...

but the New York Court of Special Sessions cleared the book of charges of obscenity. In addition to writers like

Gene Fowler Gene Fowler (born Eugene Devlan) (March 8, 1890 – July 2, 1960) was an American journalist, author, and dramatist. Biography Fowler was born in Denver, Colorado. When his mother remarried during his youth, he took his stepfather's name to be ...

Wyndham Lewis Percy Wyndham Lewis (18 November 1882 – 7 March 1957) was a British writer, painter and critic. He was a co-founder of the Vorticist movement in art and edited ''BLAST,'' the literary magazine of the Vorticists. His novels include ''Tarr'' ( ...

Clifford Odets Clifford Odets (July 18, 1906 – August 14, 1963) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. In the mid-1930s, he was widely seen as the potential successor to Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, as O'Neill began to withdra ...

, and

Nathanael West Nathanael West (born Nathan Weinstein; October 17, 1903 – December 22, 1940) was an American writer and screenwriter. He is remembered for two darkly satirical novels: ''Miss Lonelyhearts'' (1933) and '' The Day of the Locust'' (1939), set ...

, their key author was

, whom they signed in 1934. They published ''

Tortilla Flat ''Tortilla Flat'' (1935) is an early John Steinbeck novel set in Monterey, California. The novel was the author's first clear critical and commercial success. The book portrays a group of 'paisanos'—literally, countrymen—a small band of err ...

'' in 1935 and other new and reprinted Steinbeck works. Covici-Friede failed in 1938; in 1943,

Crown Publishing The Crown Publishing Group is a subsidiary of Penguin Random House that publishes across several fiction and non-fiction categories. Originally founded in 1933 as a remaindered books wholesaler called Outlet Book Company, the firm expanded int ...

purchased the firm's assets.

Viking Press

In 1938, Covici moved to

, where he convinced Steinbeck to sign. Viking published ''

The Grapes of Wrath ''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize ...

'' (1939), which received a 1940

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...

."Novel"
The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 8 September 2016. Overall, Covici's association with Steinbeck was long-lasting and highly honored by both sides. Covici also worked on the Viking Portable Library and with authors like

Joseph Campbell Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the ...

Ludwig Bemelmans Ludwig Bemelmans (April 27, 1898 – October 1, 1962) was an Austrian-American writer and illustrator of children's books and adult novels. He is known best for the ''Madeline'' picture books. Six were published, the first in 1939. Early life B ...

Gilbert Highet Gilbert Arthur Highet (; June 22, 1906 – January 20, 1978) was a Scottish American classicist, academic writer, intellectual critic, and literary historian. Biography Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Gilbert Highet is best known as a mid-20th-centur ...

Lionel Trilling Lionel Mordecai Trilling (July 4, 1905 – November 5, 1975) was an American literary critic, short story writer, essayist, and teacher. He was one of the leading U.S. critics of the 20th century who analyzed the contemporary cultural, social, ...

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), ''Death of a Salesman'' ( ...

George Gamow George Gamow (March 4, 1904 – August 19, 1968), born Georgiy Antonovich Gamov ( uk, Георгій Антонович Гамов, russian: Георгий Антонович Гамов), was a Russian-born Soviet and American polymath, theoreti ...

Shirley Jackson Shirley Hardie Jackson (December 14, 1916 – August 8, 1965) was an American writer known primarily for her works of horror and mystery. Over the duration of her writing career, which spanned over two decades, she composed six novels, two me ...

Willy Ley Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scree ...

Marianne Moore Marianne Craig Moore (November 15, 1887 – February 5, 1972) was an American modernist poet, critic, translator, and editor. Her poetry is noted for formal innovation, precise diction, irony, and wit. Early life Moore was born in Kirkwood, ...

, and

. Bellow's novel ''

Herzog ''Herzog'' (female ''Herzogin'') is a German hereditary title held by one who rules a territorial duchy, exercises feudal authority over an estate called a duchy, or possesses a right by law or tradition to be referred to by the ducal title. T ...

'', Steinbeck's '' East of Eden'', and Jackson's ''

We Have Always Lived in the Castle ''We Have Always Lived in the Castle'' is a 1962 mystery novel by American author Shirley Jackson. It was Jackson's final work, and was published with a dedication to Pascal Covici, the publisher, three years before the author's death in 1965. Th ...

'' are dedicated to Covici.

Death and legacy

Covici died on October 14, 1964. His relationship with John Steinbeck is portrayed in the book ''Steinbeck and Covici: The Story of a Friendship'', edited by Thomas Fensch.

Other works published

* ''1001 Afternoons in Chicago'',

* ''Broken Necks '', Ben Hecht * ''Fantazius Mallare, a Mysterious Oath'', Ben Hecht * ''Kingdom of Evil'', Ben Hecht * ''The Coming Struggle for Power'', John Strachey * ''

The Sweet Singer of Michigan Julia Ann Moore (née Julia Ann Davis; December 1, 1847 – June 5, 1920) was an American poetaster. Like Scotland's William McGonagall, she is best known for writing notoriously bad poetry. Biography Young Julia grew up on her family's Mi ...

'', Julia Moore * ''The Childermass'',

* '' Complete Cheerful Cherub'', Rebecca McCann * ''Speakeasy Girl'', Bobbie Meredith * ''Bachelor's Wife'', George A. Bagby * ''Boy Crazy'', Grace Perkins

References

* Ronald S. Marmarelli. "Covici, Pascal Avram"; American National Biography Online Feb. 2000.

External links

Pascal Covici Collection
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...

at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Covici, Pascal 1885 births 1964 deaths People from Botoșani Romanian Jews Romanian emigrants to the United States American people of Romanian-Jewish descent University of Michigan alumni American book publishers (people) American book editors