Arthur Gelb (February 3, 1924 – May 20, 2014) was an American editor, author and executive and was the

managing editor A managing editor (ME) is a senior member of a publication's management team. Typically, the managing editor reports directly to the editor-in-chief and oversees all aspects of the publication. United States In the United States, a managing edi ...

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 1986 to 1989.

Early life and education

Gelb was born to two Jewish immigrants from what was then

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

and now

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, in the back of his parents dress shop in

East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the eas ...

. His family later moved to the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

where he attended

DeWitt Clinton High School DeWitt Clinton High School is a public high school located since 1929 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Opened in 1897 in Lower Manhattan as an all-boys school, it maintained that status for 86 years before becoming co-ed in 1983. From i ...

. He attempted to join the military during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

but was rejected due to having poor vision. Gelb attended

City College of New York 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, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

but dropped out during his junior year in 1944. In 1946, Gelb graduated from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Career

Gelb began working the night shift at ''The Times'' as a copy boy in 1944. He ascended through the ranks, holding several titles in many different departments. His biggest impacts were while working in the drama department. He enjoyed the plays of

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...

so much that he wrote a biography of the playwright (''O'Neill: Life with Monte Cristo'', 1974, ) with his wife Barbara. He supported the creation of the New York Shakespeare Festival by editorializing

Joseph Papp Joseph Papp (born Joseph Papirofsky; June 22, 1921 – October 31, 1991) was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp is a pioneering figure in American theater, known for creating Shakespeare in the Park, which aimed to make classi ...

's productions. He edited a number of works such as ''Great Lives of the Twentieth Century'' (). Gelb retired from ''The Times'' in 1989 as managing editor. ''City Room'' (), a memoir of his life and career at The Times, was published in 2003. After retiring from ''The Times'', Gelb became president of

The New York Times Company The New York Times Company is an American mass media corporation that publishes ''The New York Times'' and its associated publications such as ''The New York Times International Edition'' and other media properties. The New York Times Company's ...

Foundation, which operated until 2009, and director of The New York Times College Scholarship Program. Gelb received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the City College of New York in 1997.

Personal life

Gelb and his family lived in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Arthur and Barbara Gelb were the parents of Peter Gelb, general manager of the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

in New York City.

Death

Gelb died on May 20, 2014, at his home in

Manhattan, New York Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, of complications of a stroke. He was 90.

Bibliography

* '' One More Victim: The Life and Death of a Jewish Nazi.'' New York: The New American Library, 1967. Rosenthal, A.M. & Gelb, Arthur. * ''O'Neill: Life with Monte Cristo'', 1974, * ''Great Lives of the Twentieth Century,'' , editor

References

External links

*
Gelb Papers
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center, known as the Humanities Research Center until 1983, is an archive, library, and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gelb, Arthur 1924 births 2014 deaths Writers from Manhattan American newspaper editors American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Jewish American journalists Journalists from New York City The New York Times editors The New York Times journalists 21st-century American Jews