Thomas Boss Congdon Jr. (March 17, 1931 – December 23, 2008) was an American

book editor The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

who worked on

Russell Baker Russell Wayne Baker (August 14, 1925 – January 21, 2019) was an American journalist, narrator, writer of Pulitzer Prize-winning satirical commentary and self-critical prose, and author of Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography '' Growing Up'' (1 ...

's memoir '' Growing Up'',

Peter Benchley Peter Bradford Benchley (May 8, 1940 – February 11, 2006) was an American author, screenwriter, and ocean activist. He is known for his bestselling novel '' Jaws'' and co-wrote its film adaptation with Carl Gottlieb. Several more of his works ...

's bestselling novel ''

Jaws Jaws or Jaw may refer to: Anatomy * Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth ** Mandible, the lower jaw Arts, entertainment, and media * Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker'' * ...

'', and

David Halberstam David Halberstam (April 10, 1934 April 23, 2007) was an American writer, journalist, and historian, known for his work on the Vietnam War, politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, Korean War, and late ...

's 1986 work '' The Reckoning'', as well as the infamous ''

Michelle Remembers ''Michelle Remembers'' is a discredited 1980 book co-written by Canadian psychiatrist Lawrence Pazder and his psychiatric patient (and eventual wife) Michelle Smith. A best-seller, ''Michelle Remembers'' relied on the discredited practice of rec ...

'', an unreliable account of child abuse that contributed to the

Satanic panic The Satanic panic is a moral panic consisting of over 12,000 unsubstantiated cases of Satanic ritual abuse (SRA, sometimes known as ritual abuse, ritualistic abuse, organized abuse, or sadistic ritual abuse) starting in the United States in th ...

. He ultimately establishing his own publishing house. Congdon was born on March 17, 1931, in

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decade ...

. He Graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1953. He dropped out of Yale during his sophomore year to work on a gold mine in

Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the p ...

. While at Yale, he completed the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program and upon graduation, he was commissioned an ensign in the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...

s. While in the Navy, he served on the battleships and . He attended

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 ...

, where he studied journalism.Weber, Bruce
"Thomas B. Congdon, Editor of Best Sellers Like 'Jaws,' Dies at 77"
''

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 d ...

'', December 25, 2008. Accessed December 25, 2008. Congdon became an editor at ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...

'', where he worked for 12 years. In 1968, he took his first position in book publishing at

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

, and was hired by Doubleday in 1971.Morgan, Ted
"SHARKS; ...and then, and then, and then...The making of a best seller"
''

'', April 21, 1974. Accessed December 25, 2008. At Doubleday, Congdon had read a number of articles written by

and invited Benchley to lunch to discuss some ideas for books. Benchley wanted to write a non-fiction book about pirates, but Congdon wasn't interested. Congdon asked if he had any ideas for fiction, and Benchley respond with his idea of a novel about a great white shark terrorizing a beach resort. Congdon offered Benchley an advance of $1,000, leading to the novelist submitting the first 100 pages. After extensive rewriting based on Congdon's guidance, ''Jaws'' was published in 1974 and stayed on the bestseller list for some 44 weeks. In April 1974, Congdon was named as editor in chief of adult trade books at

E. P. Dutton E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group. Creator Edward Payson Dutton (January 4, ...

. He worked with author

A. Scott Berg Andrew Scott Berg (born December 4, 1949) is an American biographer. After graduating from Princeton University in 1971, Berg expanded his senior thesis on editor Maxwell Perkins into a full-length biography, ''Max Perkins: Editor of Genius'' (1 ...

, who was writing a book about

Maxwell Perkins William Maxwell Evarts "Max" Perkins (September 20, 1884 – June 17, 1947) was an American book editor, best remembered for discovering authors Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and Thomas Wolfe. Early life and ...

. Congdon reviewed Berg's original manuscripts, which had been written in the varying styles of several notable authors, and finally circled a paragraph that he felt captured what he was looking for, saying "You know who this sounds like? Nobody. Write the whole book like this. That's your voice." The published book, ''Maxwell Perkins: Editor of Genius'', won the 1980

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

, who had been a columnist for ''

'' worked with Congdon on his best-selling memoir ''Growing Up'', which Baker said would never have been written without Congdon's assistance. Baker said that "After a lot of wine, I’d start talking about my uncles; I had a lot of uncles. And Tom said, 'This really ought to be a book.'" Baker wrote a draft, which Congdon rejected as "a piece of reporting", insisting that Baker rewrite the stories and the characters as they were when they were young. Baker recounted that "I threw the whole thing away and started over. A lot of the success of that book is due to him." In 1979, Congdon left E. P. Dutton to partner up with French publisher

Jean-Claude Lattès Jean-Claude is a French masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Jean-Claude Ades, an Italian electronic music producer * Jean-Claude Alibert (died 2020), a French racing driver * Jean-Claude Amiot (born 1939), a French compo ...

. During that period, he published ''

''. Written by psychiatrist

Lawrence Pazder Lawrence Pazder (April 30, 1936 – March 5, 2004) was a Canadian psychiatrist and author. Pazder wrote the discredited biography, '' Michelle Remembers'', published in 1980, with his patient (and eventual wife) Michelle Smith, which claimed to ...

, the book is widely considered as an unreliable story of ritual abuse story that contributed to the satanic panic of the 1980s. Congdon & Lattès (later known as Congdon & Weed) went bankrupt in 1985. Congdon edited books for other publishers, editing

's ''The Reckoning'' published in 1986 by

William Morrow and Company William Morrow and Company is an American publishing company founded by William Morrow in 1926. The company was acquired by Scott Foresman in 1967, sold to Hearst Corporation in 1981, and sold to News Corporation (now News Corp) in 1999. ...

. In 1994, Congdon's non-fiction book ''Having Babies'' was published by Simon & Schuster, described by Kirkus Reviews as "A look at pregnancy and childbirth as they are experienced by patients of an obstetrical practice in a wealthy New Jersey town."Staff
"HAVING BABIES: The Patients, the Doctors, the Dramas and Joys, Nine Months Inside an Obstetrical Practice"
'' Kirkus Reviews'', June 1st, 1994. Review posted online May 20th, 2010. Accessed April 12, 2013. He died at age 77 on December 23, 2008, at his home in

Nantucket, Massachusetts Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck Island, Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a Consolidated city-county, combined county/town government t ...

, due to

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

and

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Congdon, Thomas Boss 1931 births 2008 deaths American book editors Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni People from Nantucket, Massachusetts People from New London, Connecticut United States Navy officers Yale College alumni Neurological disease deaths in Massachusetts Deaths from Parkinson's disease Military personnel from Massachusetts