Hiram Haydn
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Hiram Collins Haydn (November 3, 1907 – December 2, 1973)Hiram Collins Haydn Papers: A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
Manuscript Division, 2006, revised April 2010 (accessed 2016-05-13).
was an American writer and editor. He was editor in chief at
Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
before leaving to help establish
Atheneum Publishing Atheneum Books was a New York City publishing house established in 1959 by Alfred A. Knopf, Jr., Simon Michael Bessie and Hiram Haydn. Simon & Schuster has owned Atheneum properties since its acquisition of Macmillan in 1994 and it created Athene ...
.Harry Gilroy
"Hiram Haydn Leaves Atheneum To Become Harcourt Associate"
''
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'', August 15, 1964.
He was also the editor of
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 ...
's literary journal, ''
The American Scholar "The American Scholar" was a speech given by Ralph Waldo Emerson on August 31, 1837, to the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard College at the First Parish in Cambridge in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was invited to speak in recognition of his gro ...
'', from 1944 to 1973.


Biography

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Haydn graduated from Amherst College in 1928, and later received a master's degree from
Western Reserve University Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...
and a Ph.D. from
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 1942. He married Rachel Hutchinson Norris in 1935, later divorced; in 1945 he married Mary Wescott Tuttle. mother's maiden middle name: spelling correction. In 1945 Haydn became editor, later editor in chief, for
Crown Publishers The Crown Publishing Group is a subsidiary of Penguin Random House that publishes across several fiction and non-fiction categories. Originally founded in 1933 as a remaindered books wholesaler called Outlet Book Company, the firm expanded int ...
until he moved to
Bobbs-Merrill The Bobbs-Merrill Company was a book publisher located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Company history The company began in 1850 October 3 when Samuel Merrill bought an Indianapolis bookstore and entered the publishing business. After his death in 1 ...
in 1950 and to
Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
in 1955, where he became editor in chief in 1956. In 1959 he became one of the founders of Atheneum together with Simon Bessie and Alfred Knopf Jr. He left in 1964 to join
Harcourt, Brace & World Harcourt () was an American publishing firm with a long history of publishing fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. The company was last based in San Diego, California, with editorial/sales/marketing/rights offices in New York City an ...
. Among the writers he worked with as editor were
William Styron William Clark Styron Jr. (June 11, 1925 – November 1, 2006) was an American novelist and essayist who won major literary awards for his work. Styron was best known for his novels, including: * '' Lie Down in Darkness'' (1951), his acclaimed fi ...
, William Goldman,
William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most o ...
, and Ayn Rand. He wrote five novels, as well as an academic work about the " counter revolution" that he argued took place during the middle period of the ''
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''. His memoir, ''Words & Faces'', was published posthumously.Barbara Capitman
"Delve into a serious book about books"
'' Lewiston Evening Journal'', February 6, 1975.
During his career he also taught at several colleges including the
University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...
,
The New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSS ...
, the Center for Advanced Study at
Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...
, and the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Haydn had a seasonal home in Chilmark, Massachusetts, on Martha's Vineyard, where he died of a heart attack in December 1973 at age 66. He was survived by his wife Mary, two sons, and two daughters."Hiram Haydn, 66, Author, Publisher Dies in Bay State"
'' Bridgeport Telegram'', December 4, 1973 (via
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).


Books


Novels

*''By Nature Free'' (1943) *''Manhattan Furlough'' (1945) *''The Time is Noon'' (1948) *''The Hands of Esau'' (1962) *''Report from the Red Windmill'' (1967)


History

*''The Counter-Renaissance'' (1950)


Memoir

*''Words & Faces'' (1974)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haydn, Hiram American book editors 1907 births 1973 deaths Writers from Cleveland Amherst College alumni Case Western Reserve University alumni Columbia University alumni People from Chilmark, Massachusetts