Sol Stein (October 13, 1926 – September 19, 2019) was the author of 13 books and was Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Stein and Day Publishers for 27 years.

Early life

Born in Chicago on October 13, 1926, Stein was the son of Louis Stein and Zelda Zam Stein. The family moved to New York in 1930. In 1941, while living in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, Sol Stein wrote his first book, "Magic Maestro Please", followed shortly by "Patriotic Magic". He attended

DeWitt Clinton High School , motto_translation = Without Work Nothing Is Accomplished , image = DeWitt Clinton High School front entrance IMG 7441 HLG.jpg , seal_image = File:Clinton News.JPG , seal_size = 124px , ...

, where he served on the ''Magpie'' literary magazine with

Richard Avedon Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for ''Harper's Bazaar'', ''Vogue'' and ''Elle'' specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and danc ...

and James Baldwin. He graduated in 1942 and enrolled at CCNY, which then provided a free education. Between the time of Stein's enlistment in the

Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps: * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army * Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941) * United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...

in 1944 and being called to active duty on March 1, 1945, Stein had completed nearly three years of infantry ROTC at

CCNY The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, City ...

. After qualifying for pilot and bombardier training, a backlog of pilots caused Stein to voluntarily transfer to the infantry. Overseas, he served as an Information & Education officer in the Headquarters of the

1st Infantry Division (United States) The 1st Infantry Division is a Armored brigade combat team, combined arms Division (military), division of the United States Army, and is the oldest continuously serving division in the Regular Army (United States), Regular Army. It has seen c ...

in Germany as Commandant of Division Schools, located in three cities, Regensburg,

Ansbach Ansbach (; ; East Franconian: ''Anschba'') is a city in the German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränkische Rezat, ...

, and Triesdorf. On 5 November 1946 Stein was cited by Lt. General

Geoffrey Keyes Lieutenant General Geoffrey Keyes (October 30, 1888 – September 17, 1967) was a highly decorated senior United States Army officer who served with distinction in Sicily and Italy during World War II. Early life Keyes was born on October 30, ...

for having organized and commanded the best occupational training schools in the Third Army Area in the American Zone of Germany. Upon returning from Europe in 1946, Stein completed work for his degree at

and simultaneously with his graduation in 1948 was employed at the college as a lecturer in social studies. While teaching, he took his master's degree in English and Comparative Literature at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1949 and was accepted for the famed doctoral seminar conducted jointly by Lionel Trilling and

Jacques Barzun Jacques Martin Barzun (; November 30, 1907 – October 25, 2012) was a French-American historian known for his studies of the history of ideas and cultural history. He wrote about a wide range of subjects, including baseball, mystery novels, and ...

, both of whose writings Stein was later to edit.

Script writer for the Voice of America

From 1951 to 1953 Stein was employed by the

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

, eventually as senior editor of the Ideological Advisory Staff of the Voice of America. He wrote daily scripts that were translated into 46 languages and broadcast to two million people risking their lives listening behind the Iron Curtain. It was at the Voice that Stein's association with

Bertram Wolfe Bertram David Wolfe (January 19, 1896 – February 21, 1977) was an American scholar, leading communist, and later a leading anti-communist. He authored many works related to communism, including biographical studies of Vladimir Lenin, Joseph ...

began; Stein was instrumental in causing the re-publication of Wolfe's masterpiece, ''Three Who Made a Revolution,'' which had been allowed to go out of print. The book subsequently sold half a million copies in a few years and was adopted in almost all Soviet Studies programs in the U.S. and elsewhere. In 1953 Stein, a centrist, was appointed Executive Director of the

American Committee for Cultural Freedom The American Committee for Cultural Freedom (ACCF) was the U.S. affiliate of the anti-Communist Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF). Overview The ACCF and CCF were organizations that, during the Cold War, sought to encourage intellectuals to be c ...

, an organization of 300 leading American intellectuals of left and right working together in support of civil liberties and battling Senator Joseph McCarthy in the U.S. and Soviet propaganda and influence among intellectuals in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. It was in this period that the eventual publisher supervised the writing and publication of ''McCarthy and the Communists'', which made ''The New York Times'' Bestseller List for 13 weeks and was credited with contributing to the unseating of Senator McCarthy.

Playwright

In 1952 Stein was granted a leave of absence from the Voice of America to accept back-to-back fellowships at

Yaddo Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March ...

, an artists’ colony, and the

MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowel ...

. At MacDowell, Stein completed his first play, ''Napoleon'', under the watchful eye of

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel '' The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and '' The Skin of Our Teeth'' — ...

, a fellow at the same time. The verse drama was produced the following year by the New Dramatists organization at the ANTA Theater in New York and was chosen by the Dramatists Alliance as “the best full length play of 1953”. Stein completed a second play, ''A Shadow of My Enemy'', originally intended as an adaptation of

Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer-editor, who, after early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), defected from the Soviet underground (1938) ...

' best-selling memoir, ''Witness'' (1952), but, when denied rights, based on public record and published in 1957. The play, whose synopsis runs "A senior editor of Time magazine accuses his closest friend of being a Communist", was originally commissioned by the Theater Guild and subsequently produced on Broadway by Roger Stevens, Alfred deLiagre Jr., and

Hume Cronyn Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor and writer. Early life Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., was a businessman and ...

. The cast starred

Ed Begley Edward James Begley Sr. (March 25, 1901 – April 28, 1970) was an American actor of theatre, radio, film, and television. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film ''Sweet Bird of Youth'' (1962) and ...

and

Gene Raymond Gene Raymond (born Raymond Guion; August 13, 1908 – May 3, 1998) was an American film, television, and stage actor of the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to acting, Raymond was also a singer, composer, screenwriter, director, producer, and decorat ...

. In the early 1950s, Stein and Elia Kazan formed a friendship that was cemented in 1955 when Stein served as the production observer from first reading to opening night of the

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thr ...

play '' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'', which won the Pulitzer Prize for drama that year. Stein's play ''A Shadow of My Enemy'' was produced in 1957 by Roger Stevens, Alfred deLiagre Jr. and Hume Cronyn at the National Theater in Washington and the ANTA theatre on Broadway in New York starring Ed Begley and Gene Raymond. In 1957 Stein was one of 10 founding members of the Playwrights Group at the Actors Studio in New York with

William Inge William Motter Inge (; May 3, 1913 – June 10, 1973) was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s he had a string of memorable Broad ...

Lorraine Hansberry Lorraine Vivian Hansberry (May 19, 1930 – January 12, 1965) was a playwright and writer. She was the first African-American female author to have a play performed on Broadway. Her best-known work, the play ''A Raisin in the Sun'', highli ...

, and others. From 1957–1959 Stein served for two and a half years as Managing Editor of the Executive Membership Division of the Research Institute of America.

Editor and publisher

In 1953 Stein edited and supervised the publication of ''McCarthy and the Communists'' by James Rorty and Moshe Decter for the Beacon Press in Boston. Melvin Arnold, director of the Beacon Press appointed Stein as General Editor of Beacon's Contemporary Affairs Series in the book size trade paperback format developed by Stein. Working as a freelance contractor, Stein's first list for Beacon included ''

Three Who Made a Revolution 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 190 ...

'' by

, ''Homage to Catalonia'' by George Orwell, ''The Century of Total War'' by

Raymond Aron Raymond Claude Ferdinand Aron (; 14 March 1905 – 17 October 1983) was a French philosopher, sociologist, political scientist, historian and journalist, one of France's most prominent thinkers of the 20th century. Aron is best known for his 19 ...

, ''An End to Innocence'' by

Leslie Fiedler Leslie Aaron Fiedler (March 8, 1917 – January 29, 2003) was an American literary critic, known for his interest in mythography and his championing of genre fiction. His work incorporates the application of psychological theories to American lit ...

, ''The Need for Roots'' by

Simone Weil Simone Adolphine Weil ( , ; 3 February 1909 – 24 August 1943) was a French philosopher, mystic, and political activist. Over 2,500 scholarly works have been published about her, including close analyses and readings of her work, since 1995. ...

, ''The Hero in History'' by Sidney Hook, ''Social Darwinism in American Thought'' by

Richard Hofstadter Richard Hofstadter (August 6, 1916October 24, 1970) was an American historian and public intellectual of the mid-20th century. Hofstadter was the DeWitt Clinton Professor of American History at Columbia University. Rejecting his earlier historic ...

, and ''The Invisible Writing'' by

Arthur Koestler Arthur Koestler, (, ; ; hu, Kösztler Artúr; 5 September 1905 – 1 March 1983) was a Hungarian-born author and journalist. Koestler was born in Budapest and, apart from his early school years, was educated in Austria. In 1931, Koestler join ...

. Sol Stein edited the classic work ''

Notes of a Native Son ''Notes of a Native Son'' is a collection of ten essays by James Baldwin, published in 1955, mostly tackling issues of race in America and Europe. The volume, as his first non-fiction book, compiles essays of Baldwin that had previously appear ...

'' by James Baldwin, selected as #19 of the “100 best nonfiction books of the 20th century”; Elia Kazan's ''

America America ''America America'' (British title ''The Anatolian Smile''—a reference to an ongoing acknowledgment of the character Stavros' captivating smile) is a 1963 American drama film directed, produced and written by Elia Kazan, adapted from his own b ...

;'' and Lionel Trilling’s ''Freud and the Crisis of Our Culture.'' He was also responsible for the continued publication of Bertram D. Wolfe’s ''The Fabulous Life of Diego Rivera'' and George Orwell’s ''Homage to Catalonia,'' selected as #42 of the 100 best nonfiction books of the 20th century. In 1959 Lionel Trilling,

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

and Sol Stein launched The Mid-Century Book Society, an upscale book club, which was an immediate success.

Stein and Day

In 1962 Stein founded the New York-based publishing firm Stein and Day with his then-wife, Patricia Day. Stein was both publisher and editor-in-chief of the firm. The publishing house’s first book was Elia Kazan’s ''America America,'' which sold three million copies in hardback, paperback, and book club editions. The success of many of Stein and Day’s books was attributable in part to the amount of publicity work that Stein and Day did for each book. Stein worked with Kazan daily for five months on Kazan’s s first novel ''The Arrangement,'' which was #1 on ''The New York Times'' bestseller list for 37 consecutive weeks. The firm relocated from

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Briarcliff Manor, New York Briarcliff Manor () is a suburban village in Westchester County, New York, north of New York City. It is on of land on the east bank of the Hudson River, geographically shared by the towns of Mount Pleasant and Ossining. Briarcliff Manor in ...

in 1975, and published about 100 books each year until the company was compelled to close its doors, the background of which was the subject of Stein’s nonfiction book, '' A Feast for Lawyers.'' ''The New York Times'' said, “He has produced an appalling, Dickensian portrait of the entire system...ought to be read not only by executives facing Chapter 11 but by all entrepreneurs and indeed by anyone who fantasizes about running his own company."Gaeber, Lauren. “News and Noteworthy”, ''The New York Times'', 25 March 1955. Retrieved from http://nytimes.com on 13 September 2007. Stein's book was honored by The American Bankruptcy Association at its annual convention in Washington, D.C.

now hosts the Stein and Day Archives, which chronicles the firm's 27 years of existence. Stein and Day was the originating publisher of works by

, David Frost,

Jack Higgins Henry "Harry" Patterson (27 July 1929 – 9 April 2022), commonly known by his pen name Jack Higgins, was a British author. He was a best-selling author of popular thrillers and espionage novels. His novel '' The Eagle Has Landed'' (1975) so ...

, GordonThomas,

Budd Schulberg Budd Schulberg (born Seymour Wilson Schulberg, March 27, 1914 – August 5, 2009) was an American screenwriter, television producer, novelist and sports writer. He was known for his novels '' What Makes Sammy Run?'' and ''The Harder They Fall;'' ...

Claude Brown Claude Brown (February 23, 1937 – February 2, 2002) was the author of '' Manchild in the Promised Land'', published to critical acclaim in 1965, which tells the story of his coming of age during the 1940s and 1950s in Harlem. He also published ...

, Mary Cheever,

Harry Lorayne Harry Lorayne (born 4 May 1926) is an American magician and a memory-training specialist and writer who was called "The Yoda of Memory Training" and "The World's Foremost Memory-Training Specialist" by ''Time'' magazine. He is well known for hi ...

, Barbara Howar,

Elaine Morgan Elaine Morgan OBE, FRSL (7 November 1920 – 12 July 2013), was a Welsh writer for television and the author of several books on evolutionary anthropology. She advocated the aquatic ape hypothesis, which she advocated as a corrective to what ...

Wanda Landowska Wanda Aleksandra Landowska (5 July 1879 – 16 August 1959) was a Polish harpsichordist and pianist whose performances, teaching, writings and especially her many recordings played a large role in reviving the popularity of the harpsichord in ...

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

, Oliver Lange, and

F. Lee Bailey Francis Lee Bailey Jr. (June 10, 1933 – June 3, 2021) was an American criminal defense attorney. Bailey's name first came to nationwide attention for his involvement in the second murder trial of Sam Sheppard, a surgeon accused of murdering ...

, among others. Stein and Day was also the American publisher of

J. B. Priestley John Boynton Priestley (; 13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984) was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator. His Yorkshire background is reflected in much of his fiction, notably in ''The Good Compa ...

Eric Partridge Eric Honeywood Partridge (6 February 1894 – 1 June 1979) was a New Zealand– British lexicographer of the English language, particularly of its slang. His writing career was interrupted only by his service in the Army Education Corps an ...

Anthony Sampson Anthony Terrell Seward Sampson (3 August 1926 – 18 December 2004) was a British writer and journalist. His most notable and successful book was '' Anatomy of Britain'', which was published in 1962 and was followed by five more "Anatomies", upd ...

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...

Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quot ...

, L. P. Hartley, and

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

The WritePro Corporation

In 1989 Stein founded a software publishing company with his wife Patricia Day Stein and his youngest son, David Day Stein. Together they took their combined knowledge of writing with their son's technical expertise and created software to teach aspiring writers how to write fiction. WritePro® teaches in-depth character creation, how to create plot, suspense and conflict through the interaction of characters and more advanced topics. WritePro® has over 100,000 users in 38 countries and received many accolades in its reviews. After the success of WritePro®, they created two sets of writing tools for professional writers called FictionMaster® and FirstAid for Writers®. Though they were also successful, Stein chose to license the software to another company in 1995. The licenses were taken back in 2010 and the process of updating the programs began in 2011 and The New WritePro was launched in 2012. However, Stein became ill shortly thereafter and work to bring back the professional tools was interrupted. Stein's son David still hopes to bring them back some day with the help of his brother Leland who now co-owns The WritePro Corporation with him. The New WritePro® is still available through writepro.com.

Honors

* Honorary Life Member,

International Brotherhood of Magicians International Brotherhood of Magicians (I.B.M.) is an organization for both professional and amateur close-up and stage magicians, with approximately 15,000 members worldwide. The headquarters is in St. Charles, Missouri. There are over 300 ...

, Ring 26, 1947. * Honorary

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

, College of the City of New York, tc * Distinguished Instructor Award,

University of California at Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...

, 1992

Bibliography

Novels

* ''The Husband'', Coward-McCann, 1969, Pocket Books, 1970. British Commonwealth: Michael Joseph, Mayflower. Translated into German, Spanish, Japanese, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Dutch. * '' The Magician'', Delacorte, 1971, Dell, 1972. Selected by the Book-of-the-Month Club. British Commonwealth: Michael Joseph, Mayflower. Translated into French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Russian. Film rights to Twentieth-Century Fox. Screenplay by Sol Stein. * ''Living Room'', Arbor House, 1974, Bantam, 1975. The Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club. British Commonwealth: The Bodley Head, New English Library. Translated into French, German (2 editions), Italian, Japanese. * ''The Childkeeper'', Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975, Dell, 1976. British Commonwealth: Collins, Fontana. Translated into German, Spanish. German-language TV motion picture released * ''Other People'', Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980, Dell, 1981. British Commonwealth: Collins, Fontana. French, German, Italian (3 editions), Greek. * ''The Resort'', Morrow, 1981, Dell, 1982. British Commonwealth: Collins, Fontana. Translated into Russian. Motion picture rights optioned (twice). * ''The Touch of Treason'', Marek/St. Martin's Press, 1985, Berkley, 1986. British Commonwealth: Macmillan. Translated into German, Greek, Swedish, Norwegian. * ''A Deniable Man'', McGraw-Hill, April, 1989. Translated into German. * ''The Best Revenge'', Random House, 1991.

Nonfiction books

* '' A Feast for Lawyers'', hardcover, M. Evans, 1989, paperback 1992. Trade paperback, Beard Books, 1999. * '' Stein on Writing'', St. Martin's Press, 1995 hardback, 2000 paperback; British Commonwealth under the title ''Solutions for Writers'', Souvenir Press. German edition, Zweitausendeins. * '' How to Grow a Novel'', St. Martin's Press, 1999, British Commonwealth under the title Solutions for Novelists, Souvenir Press, 2000, in German, Zweitausendeins 2000. * '' Native Sons'', correspondence and commentary with James Baldwin, 2004)

Plays and screenplays

* ''Napoleon'' (previously titled ''The Illegitimist''), produced New York and California, 1953, winner of Dramatists Alliance Prize, “best full-length play of 1953” * ''A Shadow of My Enemy'', produced by Roger Stevens,

, and Alfred DeLiagre, ANTA Theater, 1957, starring

and

* ''The Magician'', screenplay,

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

Software

* ''WritePro®'' and ''The New WritePro®'', Fiction writing lessons, created in 1989 with his wife Patricia Day Stein and his son David Day Stein. * ''FictionMaster®'', tools for fiction writers, created with his wife Patricia Day Stein and his son David Day Stein. * ''FirstAid for Writers®'', tools for fiction and non-fiction writers, created with his wife Patricia Day Stein and his son David Day Stein.

References

External links

Sol Stein Papers
at the

Rare Book & Manuscript Library The Rare Book & Manuscript Library is principal repository for special collections of Columbia University. Located in New York City on the university's Morningside Heights campus, its collections span more than 4,000 years, from early Mesopotam ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stein, Sol 1926 births Writers from New York (state) American publishers (people) City College of New York alumni DeWitt Clinton High School alumni 2019 deaths People from Briarcliff Manor, New York American people of Jewish descent