Clifton Fadiman
| Clifton Fadiman | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Clifton Paul Fadiman May 15, 1904 New York City, New York |
| Died | June 20, 1999 (aged 95) Sanibel, Florida |
| Cause of death | pancreatic cancer |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Occupation | Intellectual, author, editor, radio and television personality |
| Years active | 1927–98 |
| Employer | Simon & Schuster, New Yorker |
| Known for | Information, Please! (radio) |
| Notable work | Lifetime Reading Plan, The Mathematical Magpie, Fantasia Mathematica (Books) |
| Television | This Is Show Business), The Name's the Same |
| Spouse(s) | Pauline Elizabeth Rush, Annalee Jacoby Fadiman |
| Children | Jonathan Rush, Kim Fadiman, Anne Fadiman |
| Parent(s) | Isadore Fadiman, Grace Mandelbaum |
| Relatives | Boris Sidis, William James Sidis |
| Awards | Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters |
Clifton Paul "Kip" Fadiman (May 15, 1904 – June 20, 1999) was an American intellectual, author, editor, radio and television personality.
Born in Brooklyn,New York, Fadiman was a nephew of the famed 1887-emigree Russian psychologist Boris Sidis and a first cousin of the child prodigy William James Sidis.
Fadiman grew up in Brooklyn. His mother's maiden name was Betteni (Grace) Mandelbaum. She worked as a nurse; his father, Isadore, emigrated from Russia in 1892 and worked as a druggist.
He attended Columbia College at Columbia University. One of his teachers was lifelong friend Mark Van Doren; his undergraduate contemporaries included Jacques Barzun, Mortimer Adler, Lionel Trilling, Louis Zukofsky and Whittaker Chambers. Though he entered with the Class of 1924, his graduation was delayed until 1925 because of financial constraints. Chambers clearly includes Fadiman in a group of ernste Menschen ["serious people"], whose ability to attend Columbia he attributes to "a struggle with a warping poverty impossible for those who have not glimpsed it to imagine it." He graduated Phi Beta Kappa. Fadiman had ambitions to become a scholar, but at graduation, the chairman of the English Department told him, "We have room for only one Jew, and we have chosen Mr. Trilling.
After graduation from Columbia, Fadiman taught English at the Ethical Culture High School (now known as the "Fieldston School") in the Bronx from 1925 to 1927.
Fadiman worked ten years for Simon & Schuster, ending as its chief editor. At his interview with Max Schuster (a fellow alumni of Columbia), Fadiman pulled out a folder with a hundred ideas for books. Among Fadiman's original one hundred was to turn Robert Ripley's newspaper cartoon, Believe it or Not! into book form. The series has gone on to sell over 30 million copies.
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