Lester Markel
| Lester Markel | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 9, 1894 New York, New York |
| Died | October 23, 1977 New York, New York |
| Occupation | journalist, editor, freedom of the press advocate |
| Spouse(s) | Meta Edman (m. 1917) |
| Children | 1 daughter, Helen Markel |
| Parent(s) | Jacob Leo and Lillian (Hecht) Markel |
Lester Markel (January 9, 1894, New York, NY - October 23, 1977, New York, NY) was an American journalist, editor, lecturer, and a significant advocate for the freedom of the press. He received a Pulitzer Prize in 1953.
Lester Markel's parents were Jacob Leo Markel and Lillian (Hecht), both German immigrants. He married Meta Edman (b. 1895 - d. 1984) on April 3, 1917, at the Hotel Astor with Rev. Dr. Henry Pereira Mendes officiating; Arnold Markel, a brother of Lester, was best man and Mrs. A.J. Markel was the matron of honor. Lester and Meta Markel had one daughter, Helen (b. 1918 - d. 1990), who was Articles Editor for Ladies' Home Journal and McCalls in the 1960s and 1970s. Helen Markel married Jack Stewart, head of the Book Division at the New York Times; Lester Markel's grandson is Mark L. Stewart, a prolific writer and editor.
His brother-in-law was Irwin Edman, the famous Columbia University philosopher, who dedicated his masterpiece "Philosopher’s Holiday" to Meta and Lester.
Lester Markel attended City College of New York for two years and received a Bachelor of Letters degree (Litt. B.) from Columbia University, N.Y., in 1914.
Markel began his career in the newspaper business as a sportswriter and Linotype machine operator for the Northside News, a neighborhood paper in the Bronx. Markel was subsequently hired as a reporter for the New York Tribune and progressed to the positions of city editor and night editor. In 1919 he was promoted to assistant managing editor of the Tribune.
In 1923, Adolph S. Ochs hired Markel as editor for what was then the unremarkable Sunday department of the New York Times. Editor of the Sunday edition of the New York Times from 1923 to 1964, Markel acknowledged that he was a "tough" editor while others considered him "intense and autocratic" and "prickly." He reorganized the Sunday edition of the New York Times, creating sections including the "Book Review" and "Arts and Leisure", thus establishing the familiar sectional-format of the Sunday newspaper that subsequently would be emulated by editors across the country. During the reorganization, Markel also established the "Review of the Week" section which earned him and the Times a Pulitzer Prize in 1953 with a special citation "for the section of its Sunday newspaper edited by Lester Markel and headed, 'Review of the Week,' which for seventeen years has brought enlightenment and intelligent commentary to its readers." As editor of The New York Times Magazine, he encouraged using the magazine as a forum for new ideas explicated with extended essays by noted personalities of the day.
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