John Gross

FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the ...

(12 March 1935 – 10 January 2011) was an English man of letters. A leading intellectual, writer, anthologist, and critic. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' (in a tribute titled "My Hero") and ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' were among several publications to describe Gross as "the best-read man in Britain". ''The Guardian''s obituarist

Ion Trewin Ion Courtenay Gill Trewin (13 July 1943 – 8 April 2015) was a British editor, publisher and author. Biography Born in London, the son of J. C. Trewin and Wendy Trewin (''née'' Monk), Ion Trewin was educated at Highgate School. He was the l ...

wrote: "Mr Gross is one good argument for the survival of the species", a comment Gross would have disliked since he was known for his modesty. Charles Moore wrote in ''The Spectator'': "I am left with the irritated sense that he was under-appreciated. He was too clever, too witty, too modest for our age." Gross was the editor of ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'' from 1974 to 1981, senior book editor and book critic on the staff of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' from 1983 to 1989 and theatre critic for ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Tele ...

'' from 1989 to 2005. He also worked as assistant editor on '' Encounter'' and as literary editor of '' The New Statesman'' and '' Spectator'' magazines.

Early life and academic career

Gross was born and raised in London's East End, to Abraham Gross, a Jewish immigrant from the Polish-Jewish town of Horochów, (Gross's family escaped before the entire Jewish population was killed in

The Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

), and to Muriel Gross, of Russian-Jewish origin, whose parents came from

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...

, an area later represented in the paintings of

Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...

. He had one brother, Tony Gross, who founded Cutler and Gross, an international fashion eyewear business which was a supplier to the fashion and film industries. Among his cousins was the composer

Lionel Bart Lionel Bart (1 August 1930 – 3 April 1999) was an English writer and composer of pop music and musicals. He wrote Tommy Steele's "Rock with the Caveman" and was the sole creator of the musical ''Oliver!'' (1960). With ''Oliver!'' and his work ...

. Gross was educated at the Perse School in Cambridge and at the

City of London School The City of London School, also known as CLS and City, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for Single-sex education, boys in the City of London, England, on the banks of the River Thames next to the Millennium Bridge, ...

. A child prodigy, he was admitted to

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

, aged 17.Obituary: John Gross
''Daily Telegraph'', 10 January 2011. After gaining first-class honours in English Literature at Oxford he won a fellowship at Princeton, where he undertook postgraduate studies. He then returned to England and taught at

Queen Mary, University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of London. Today, ...

and at

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, of which he was a fellow from 1962 to 1965. In later life, he taught courses at Columbia and Princeton universities.

Books

His works as author include ''The Rise and Fall of the Man of Letters'' (1969; revised 1991, winner of the Duff Cooper Prize), ''James Joyce'' (1970), ''Shylock: Four Hundred Years in the Life of a Legend'' (1993), and his childhood memoir ''A Double Thread'' (2001). His works as an editor and anthologist include ''After Shakespeare: Writing inspired by the world’s greatest author'' (2002), ''The Oxford Book of Aphorisms'' (1983), ''The Oxford Book of Essays'' (1991), ''The Oxford Book of Comic Verse'' (1994), ''The New Oxford Book of English Prose'' (1998), ''The New Oxford Book of Literary Anecdotes'' (2006), ''The Modern Movement, Dickens and the Twentieth Century'' (reissued 2008), and ''The Oxford Book of Parodies'' (2010). Several of his books won prizes. He also won praise from fellow writers. "The publication of John Gross's ''The Rise and Fall of the Man of Letters'', when I was a bookish teenager, undoubtedly determined for me the direction I wanted my life to take... It became my Bible," wrote A.N. Wilson in ''The Spectator'' magazine in 2006.

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud ( ; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Britis ...

wrote "I read John Gross’s fascinating ''Shylock'' book straight through twice and enjoyed it more than I can say."

John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth Tar ...

called ''The New Oxford Book of English Prose'' "a marvelous gem… I wonder if there has ever been an anthology quite like it – with so vast a field – the virtually infinite expanse of English-language prose – for the anthologist to roam… I have been rapturously rolling around in John Gross’s amazing book for days."

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...

, who grew up in the same working-class East End London neighbourhood as Gross, found Gross's childhood memoir, ''A Double Thread'', "a most rich, immensely readable and very moving book. I recognised so much."

Journalism

Gross wrote regularly on literary and cultural topics for ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...

'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', ''

The New Criterion ''The New Criterion'' is a New York–based monthly literary magazine and journal of artistic and cultural criticism, edited by Roger Kimball (editor and publisher) and James Panero (executive editor). It has sections for criticism of poetry ...

'', '' Commentary'', ''

'', '' Standpoint'', ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', '' The New Statesman'' and ''

''.

Public life

He was a trustee of London's National Portrait Gallery from 1977 to 1984. He served two terms on the

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

advisory committee on blue plaques, and was on the Arts and Media Committee advising the British government on the award of public honours. He served as chairman of the judges of the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

, and was a member of The Literary Society. He was a non-executive independent director of Times Newspaper holdings, the publishers of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' and ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'', from 1982 to 2011."New Times editor next week?"
''The Guardian'', 5 December 2007

Private life

John Gross was married to Miriam Gross, also a prominent literary editor, from 1965 to 1988. The couple had two children, Tom Gross and Susanna Gross. Gross lived in London, with spells of time living in New York in the 1960s and 1980s. He was a member of the Beefsteak Club.Theo Richmon
"At the Mile End of the rainbow", ''London Evening Standard'', 12 March 2001).
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gross, John 1935 births Academics of Queen Mary University of London Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford British anthologists English literary critics English British theatre critics English Jews English male non-fiction writers English male journalists English newspaper editors English non-fiction writers English writers Fellows of King's College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Golders Green Crematorium The New York Times people People educated at the City of London School People educated at The Perse School Trustees of the National Portrait Gallery The Wall Street Journal people 2011 deaths