Edwin S. Grosvenor is a writer, photographer, and President and Editor-in-Chief of ''

American Heritage American Heritage may refer to: * ''American Heritage'' (magazine) * '' The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' * American Heritage Rivers * American Heritage School (disambiguation) See also * National Register of Historic Pla ...

''. He has published nine books and is best known for writing on his great-grandfather,

Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and T ...

, including two books and several magazine articles. Early in his career, Grosvenor worked as a freelance photographer for ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widel ...

'', completing 23 assignments. He has been interviewed on

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

CBS News Sunday Morning ''CBS News Sunday Morning'' (normally shortened to ''Sunday Morning'' on the program itself since 2009) is an American news magazine television program that has aired on CBS since January 28, 1979. Created by Robert Northshield and original hos ...

, AARP Radio, AP Radio, CBC, NBC Radio Network, NPR, and Voice of America, and has lectured at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Found ...

Boston Museum of Science The Museum of Science (MoS) is a science museum and indoor zoo in Boston, Massachusetts, located in Science Park, a plot of land spanning the Charles River. Along with over 700 interactive exhibits, the museum features a number of live presentat ...

, and other venues.

Photography

Grosvenor developed an interest in photography at an early age. When was 11, a photograph he took at the

Seattle World's Fair The Century 21 Exposition (also known as the Seattle World's Fair) was a world's fair held April 21, 1962, to October 21, 1962, in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States.

Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Pierre and Miquelon (), officially the Territorial Collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (french: link=no, Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon ), is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in t ...

, and the Aegean and Ionian Islands in Greece, which were "thoroughly and ably documented with photographs by dwin Grosvenor the clan’s newest photographic talent," according to Bob Poole in his history of the ''National Geographic''.

Publishing and Internet

In 1979, Grosvenor launched the fine arts magazine

Portfolio Portfolio may refer to: Objects * Portfolio (briefcase), a type of briefcase Collections * Portfolio (finance), a collection of assets held by an institution or a private individual * Artist's portfolio, a sample of an artist's work or a c ...

. "Since no magazine was going to hire a 27-year-old to be editor in chief, the only solution was to start my own," he told a reporter for the ''

Palm Beach Post ''The Palm Beach Post'' is an American daily newspaper serving Palm Beach County in South Florida, and parts of the Treasure Coast. On March 18, 2018, in a deal worth US$42.35 million, ''The Palm Beach Post'' and ''The Palm Beach Daily News'' we ...

''. In 1983, Portfolio was a Finalist for a

National Magazine Award The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

in the General Excellence category. In 1992, Grosvenor founded the literary magazine Current Books, which included 20-25 excerpts of recent books in each issue. It published an eclectic mix of writing by such authors as

Martin Amis Martin Louis Amis (born 25 August 1949) is a British novelist, essayist, memoirist, and screenwriter. He is best known for his novels ''Money'' (1984) and ''London Fields'' (1989). He received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his memoir ' ...

E.L. Doctorow Edgar Lawrence Doctorow (January 6, 1931 – July 21, 2015) was an American novelist, editor, and professor, best known for his works of historical fiction. He wrote twelve novels, three volumes of short fiction and a stage drama. They included ...

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. (born September 16, 1950) is an American literary critic, professor, historian, and filmmaker, who serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African Ame ...

Jane Goodall Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall on 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English primatologist and anthropologist. Seen as the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best kn ...

, Stephen Hawking,

Richard Leakey Richard Erskine Frere Leakey (19 December 1944 – 2 January 2022) was a Kenyan paleoanthropologist, conservationist and politician. Leakey held a number of official positions in Kenya, mostly in institutions of archaeology and wildlife conse ...

John McPhee John Angus McPhee (born March 8, 1931) is an American writer. He is considered one of the pioneers of creative nonfiction. He is a four-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in the category General Nonfiction, and he won that award on the four ...

Bill Moyers Bill Moyers (born Billy Don Moyers, June 5, 1934) is an American journalist and political commentator. Under the Johnson administration he served from 1965 to 1967 as the eleventh White House Press Secretary. He was a director of the Counci ...

Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and non-fiction. Her novels '' Bla ...

George Plimpton George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 – September 25, 2003) was an American writer. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found ''The Paris Review'', as well as his patrician demeanor and accent. He was also known for " ...

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and ...

, and

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 ...

. Although ''Current Books'' published for only three years, it claimed to be "the most widely distributed book publication in bookstores" at the time with copies for sale in 3,840 stores. The magazine was widely regarded in the literary community and in 1995 Grosvenor was asked to serve on the NEA's Literary Publishing Panel. Its members elected him as the Chairman of the panel. In 1996, Grosvenor founded KnowledgeMax, an online bookseller and elearning company, which merged with Sideware Systems in 2000. The resulting company, called KnowledgeMax, Inc., was publicly traded until 2003.

American Heritage

In 2007 Grosvenor led a group of investors who purchased American Heritage from

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

. Grosvenor said, “When I read in ''The New York Times'' that ''American Heritage'' had folded, I said, 'We just can’t let this happen,’ " Grosvenor told an interview in 2009. "I contacted the Forbes family and said, 'This is like intellectual preservation. It’s important to save battlefields and historic homes, but this is the magazine that writes about the battlefields and the historic homes.’ And luckily the Forbes family agreed with me and we formed a new company to save it.” Although American Heritage suspended print publication in 2012, it continues in digital form. In 2012 and 2013, Grosvenor led a team developing Fourscore (4score.org), an educational website offering thousands of essays and documents for teaching American history and government. Although ''American Heritage'' was forced to stop print publication in 2012, Grosvenor led a group of volunteers that relaunched a digital version of the magazine in June 2017.

Writing

Grosvenor is the author, with Morgan Wesson, of ''Alexander Graham Bell: The Life and Times of the Man Who Invented the Telephone'' (Harry N Abrams, 1997), a biography of his great-grandfather. He also authored ''Try it!: the Alexander Graham Bell Science Activity Kit'', published by the National Geographic Society in 1992. He has also edited a number of anthologies from ''American Heritage'' and ''Horizon'' Magazines.

Awards and memberships

Grosvenor received the President's Award from

Historic Deerfield Historic Deerfield is a museum dedicated to the heritage and preservation of Deerfield, Massachusetts, and history of the Connecticut River Valley. Its historic houses, museums, and programs provide visitors with an understanding of New Engla ...

in 2012. Grosvenor is a member of the

Organization of American Historians The Organization of American Historians (OAH), formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S. and abroad inc ...

, the

National Book Critics Circle The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American nonprofit organization (501(c)(3)) with more than 700 members. It is the professional association of American book review editors and critics, known primarily for the National Book Critics C ...

, and the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...

Books

*''Try It!: The Alexander Graham Bell Science Activity Kit and Experiment Book, 1992 *''Alexander Graham Bell: The Life and Times of the Man Who Invented the Telephone'' (with Morgan Wesson), 1997 *''299 Things You Should Know about American History'' (with John A. Garraty), 2009 *''The Best of American Heritage: The Civil War'', 2015 *''The Best of American Heritage: Lincoln'', 2015 *''History's Great Showdowns'', 2016 *''The Middle Ages'', 2016 *''The Best of American Heritage: Hamilton'', 2017 *''The Best of American Heritage: New York'', 2017

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grosvenor, Edwin S. Alexander Graham Bell American magazine editors American biographers American male biographers Living people 1951 births People from Washington, D.C. Columbia Business School alumni Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni Yale College alumni