The People Behind the Medal: John Newbery, Frederic G. Melcher, and Clara Whitehill Hunt

Authors

  • Leonard S. Marcus

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5860/cal.20.1.3

Abstract

In 1918, an idealistic forty-year-old bookseller from New England named Frederic G. Melcher arrived in New York to begin a new phase of his career as managing editor of The Publishers’ Weekly (PW), the publishing trade journal of record.

Melcher was not just a genial and dedicated bookman but also a tenacious industry advocate and an institution-builder of wide-ranging vision. Melcher always seemed to have energy to burn. During his early years at the magazine, he also served as secretary of the American Booksellers Association (1918-1920), co-founded Children’s Book Week (1919), and in 1920 helped lay plans for the National Association of Book Publishers, where he acted as that organization’s first executive secretary (1920-1924).

Author Biography

Leonard S. Marcus

Leonard S. Marcus is one of the world’s leading writers about children’s books and the people who create them. He is the author of Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon, Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom, Golden Legacy: The Story of Golden Books, Minders of Make-Believe, and, most recently, the editor of You Can’t Say That! He is a founding trustee of the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and is Editor at Large at Astra Publishing House.

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Published

2022-03-22

Issue

Vol. 20 No. 1 (2022): Spring

Section

Features

License

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