David Obst is an American literary agent and author. Obst was the agent of

Carl Bernstein Carl Milton Bernstein ( ; born February 14, 1944) is an American investigative journalist and author. While a young reporter for ''The Washington Post'' in 1972, Bernstein was teamed up with Bob Woodward, and the two did much of the original ne ...

and

Bob Woodward Robert Upshur Woodward (born March 26, 1943) is an American investigative journalist. He started working for ''The Washington Post'' as a reporter in 1971 and now holds the honorific title of associate editor though the Post no longer employs ...

. He also was involved in the productions of the films ''

Revenge of the Nerds ''Revenge of the Nerds'' is a 1984 American comedy film directed by Jeff Kanew and starring Robert Carradine, Anthony Edwards, Ted McGinley, and Bernie Casey. The plot follows a group of nerds at the fictional Adams College trying to st ...

'', ''

Fast Times at Ridgemont High ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' is a 1982 American coming-of-age comedy film directed by Amy Heckerling (in her feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by Cameron Crowe, based on his 1981 book ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A True Stor ...

'', and ''

All the President's Men ''All the President's Men'' is a 1974 non-fiction book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, two of the journalists who investigated the June 1972 break-in at the Watergate Office Building and the resultant political scandal for ''The Washingto ...

''.

Early life

According to Alex Kyczynski 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 ...

'', Obst says he was born in 1946, in

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights, Californi ...

.Stiehm, Jamie.
'Too Good to Be Forgotten': the '60s, with joy
" ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...

''. December 13, 1998. Retrieved on August 9, 2014. He attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

Career

Around 1969 Obst went to Taiwan to study the Chinese language and later moved to Washington, DC where he became

Seymour Hersh Seymour Myron Hersh (born April 8, 1937) is an American investigative journalist and political writer. He gained recognition in 1969 for exposing the My Lai massacre and its cover-up during the Vietnam War, for which he received the 1970 Pulitzer ...

's literary agent. Obst had also associated with activist

Abbie Hoffman Abbot Howard Hoffman (November 30, 1936 – April 12, 1989) was an American political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ("Yippies") and was a member of the Chicago Seven. He was also a leading proponent of the ...

. Obst wrote the memoir '' Too Good To Be Forgotten: Changing America in the '60s and '70s'', which was published in 1998. In a review of the book, Hersh stated that Obst was "in the middle of" important political movements in the 1960s and 1970s. By 1977 Obst had about 50 clients. On 1 February 1977 an article was published in the New York Magazine by Matthew Klein, stating that "David Obst, superagent, becomes David Obst, publisher, with a family attachment to Random House. Obst stated that he had less success as a publisher compared to being an agent. He did however publish a series of books called Roadfood, a guide to highway restaurants. In 1998 Obst further explained the idea Deep Throat was non-existent in a ''

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 ...

'' interview (this was originally revealed in Obst's memoir ''Too Good To Be Forgotten'').

Personal life

Obst married and later divorced Lynda Obst. From 1986 to 1990 he was married to Rachael Worby. In 1990 he began dating his future wife, Jane Gottleib. As of 2022 he lived in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

Publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obst, David Living people American writers People from Santa Barbara, California University of California, Berkeley alumni 1946 births