Seymour Berkson (January 30, 1905 – January 5, 1959) was an American publisher.

Biography

Berkson was born to a Jewish family in

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

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, the son of immigrants who fled persecution in Russia. His father worked as a tailor. Berkson graduated from 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 ...

with a B.A. in political science. He started his career as reporter for the ''

Chicago Herald-Examiner The ''Chicago American'' was an afternoon newspaper published in Chicago, under various names until its dissolution in 1974. History The paper's first edition came out on July 4, 1900, as '' Hearst's Chicago American''. It became the ''Morning ...

'' and worked his way through the ranks eventually becoming general manager of the ''

International News Service The International News Service (INS) was a U.S.-based news agency (newswire) founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.

'' where he worked at their news bureaus in Rome and Paris. He returned to the United States and accepted a position as the publisher for the ''

New York Journal-American :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 t ...

'' in New York City. Berkson served as chairman of the newspaper committee for Brotherhood Week, the national observance sponsored by the

National Conference of Christians and Jews The National Conference for Community and Justice is an American social justice organization focused on fighting biases and promoting understanding between people of different races and cultures. The organization was founded in 1927 as the Natio ...

Personal life

Berkson married twice; he had a daughter, Barbara Berkson Coady (d. 1996), with his first wife, journalist Jane Eads (1901–1992), whom he met at the ''Chicago Herald-Examiner''. In 1936, he married fashion publicist

Eleanor Lambert Eleanor Lambert (August 10, 1903 – October 7, 2003) was an American fashion publicist. She was instrumental in increasing the international prominence of the American fashion industry and in the emergence of New York City as a major fashion ca ...

(1903–2003); they had one son, poet

Bill Berkson William Craig Berkson (August 30, 1939 – June 16, 2016) was an American poet, critic, and teacher who was active in the art and literary worlds from his early twenties on. Early life and education Born in New York City on August 30, 1939, Bil ...

(1939–2016). He died on January 5, 1959, in

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkson, Seymour American publishers (people) 1905 births 1959 deaths Writers from Chicago University of Chicago alumni Jewish American journalists 20th-century American Jews