Margaret Carson (July 11, 1911 – October 11, 2007) was an American

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for work or a project such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists wh ...

who was highly influential within the

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

world. She was a publicist for many important artists during her lengthy career, most notably working closely for several decades with

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

. She also notably served as 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 ...

's press director during the tenure of Edward Johnson and into the early portion of

Rudolf Bing Sir Rudolf Bing, KBE (January 9, 1902 – September 2, 1997) was an Austrian-born British opera impresario who worked in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, including as General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City f ...

's career at the Met. ''

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 ...

'' stated that, Carson was "widely regarded as the leading lady of classical music publicists in New York, who guided a generation of singers through the Metropolitan Opera and shepherded the career of Leonard Bernstein." She was married to journalist

Robert Sherrod Robert Lee Sherrod (February 8, 1909 – February 13, 1994) was an American journalist, editor and writer. He was a war correspondent for ''Time'' and ''Life'' magazines, covering combat from World War II to the Vietnam War. During World ...

Biography

Carson was born Margaret Klein in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, where her father, Morris Klein, was the owner of a local department store.Charles F.C. Ruff oral history http://www.dcchs.org/OralHistory.asp?OralHistoryID=8 In 1920, at the age of nine, she moved with her parents and four sisters to

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

, where she lived for the rest of her youth. She earned a bachelor's degree from the

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a Public university, public research university in Toledo, Ohio, United States. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, ...

and a master's degree from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

. In 1937, she married her first husband, newspaper editor Charles F. Carson, Jr. After divorcing her first husband in 1940, Carson moved to

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 ...

, where she began working as a press agent. (She used her first husband's name to the end of her life, suppressing evidence of her maiden name.) In 1944 she became the press director of the

, serving in that capacity over the next decade. She also handled press relations for novelist

Theodore Dreiser Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (; August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalism (literature), naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despi ...

, poet

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...

, and the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...

during the 1940s. While working in New York during World War II, Carson married press agent Carl N. Ruff, with whom she briefly shared a public relations office. Carson and Ruff were divorced in the 1950s and Carson's third marriage, to journalist

(1961–1972), also ended in divorce. She had two children: a son from her first marriage, Charles F.C. Ruff (adopted by Mr. Ruff upon his marriage to Ms. Carson), and a daughter from her second marriage, Carla Ruff. Her son was a prominent American lawyer who became chief

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

counsel for President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

, representing the President during his Senate impeachment trial in 1999. She also had three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Carson remained active as a publicist up until her death, often working closely with colleague Edgar Vincent. Her most important client was Leonard Bernstein, with whom she enjoyed a close personal friendship as well as productive professional relationship. After his death in 1990, she remained a consultant to his production company. She also enjoyed long professional associations with conductor

Michael Tilson Thomas Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944) is an American conductor, pianist, and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of the S ...

and jazz musician

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

. Carson died in

in 2007.

References

External links

Margaret Carson Papers, 1935-2007
Music Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. {{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, Margaret 1911 births 2007 deaths American public relations people University of Toledo alumni Ohio State University alumni