Gilbert Rogin (November 14, 1929–November 4, 2017) was an American journalist and author.[1] He worked in a variety of roles at Time, Inc., published many short stories, and wrote three works of fiction. As a fiction writer, he has been compared to Norman Mailer, Saul Bellow, and Bernard Malamud.[1]
Gilbert Rogin | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 14, 1929 Brooklyn |
| Died | November 4, 2017 (aged 87) Westport, Connecticut |
| Occupation | Writer, editor |
| Alma mater | Columbia College |
| Notable works | What Happens Next? |
| Spouse | Jacqueline Duvoisin |
Time Inc. career
editRogin worked at Sports Illustrated for more than 30 years, eventually becoming the magazine's managing editor.[2] Rogin's tenure was covered in Michael MacCambridge's The Franchise: A History of Sports Illustrated Magazine, which addressed the story that Rogin named Mary Decker the 1983 Sportswoman of the Year due to an infatuation.[3] In 1984, Rogin became managing editor of Discover, another Time Inc. title.[4] Rogin was not able to revive the magazine, which was sold by Time, Inc. in 1987, although Discover won a 1986 National Magazine Award for general excellence.[5][1] Rogin then worked as a corporate editor for the company.[6] In 1992, Rogin helped to launch Vibe; he claimed that the test issue was the first time the word "motherfucker" appeared in a Time, Inc. title.[7] There was some controversy when Rogin decided to hire Jonathan Van Meter as editor-in-chief. Van Meter, a white man, was to oversee a magazine primarily about Black music and culture.[7] Rogin retired from Time, Inc. at the end of 1992.[8] Rogin also consulted and directed for Miller Publishing, which owned Blaze, a spinoff of Vibe, and Tennis, among other titles.[9]
Writing career
editRogin published many stories in The New Yorker, mostly in the 1960s, but was allegedly barred after the rejection of a couple of submissions.[10] John Updike deemed Rogin's stories "amazingly surreal".[11] Rogin's stories were acknowledged by the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1972.[12] In a review of The Fencing Master, the Oakland Tribune opined that "on a few occasions, the prose begins to take too much delight in itself, but a great deal of the book remains an intriguing adventure in tone."[13] The New York Times considered What Happens Next? "a novel of the first importance."[14] Time wrote that "Rogin shares [John] Cheever's awareness of risk, his sense that to turn a corner of the banal may be to find oneself in a howling waste of strangeness."[15]
Mordecai Richler, in The New York Times, noted in his review of Preparations for the Ascent that Rogin "can be exasperating, unnecessarily oblique at times, but the confusions of his novel are more than redeemed by the literary pleasure of the journey itself."[16] Frederick Exley considered Rogin to be the best writer in their age group.[17] Rogin stopped writing fiction in 1980.[1] In 2010, Rogin's novels were reissued as a single volume.[17] In 2014, "12 Days Before the Mast", about a sailing competition, was listed as one of Sports Illustrated's 60 best articles.[1]
Bibliography
edit- The Fencing Master (1965)
- What Happens Next? (1971)
- Preparations for the Ascent (1980)
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Genzlinger, Neil (Nov 2, 2017). "Gilbert Rogin, Writer and Magazine Editor, Dies at 87". The New York Times. p. A29.
- ^ Bruckner, D. J. R. (June 5, 1983). "Magazine: Behind the Scenes at Sports Illustrated". The New York Times. p. A34.
- ^ Zaleski, Rob (June 22, 1998). "Peeking Behind Facade at Sports Illustrated". The Capital Times. p. 1D.
- ^ Dougherty, Philip H. (Oct 8, 1984). "Advertising: Sports Illustrated". The New York Times. p. D7.
- ^ Richter, Paul (May 22, 1987). "Time Will Sell Discover After 7-Year Struggle". Los Angeles Times. p. 4.1.
- ^ "Time Reassigns 3 Editors in Magazine Realignment". Who's News. The Wall Street Journal. July 28, 1987. p. 1.
- ^ a b Mills, David (Sep 14, 1992). "The Corporate Hip-Hop Hope: Quincy Jones & Co.'s Black Culture Mag, Ready to Rap and Roll". The Washington Post. p. D1.
- ^ Carmody, Deirdre (Nov 17, 1992). "Time Inc. Names New No. 2 Editor". The New York Times. p. D1.
- ^ McGee, Celia (May 6, 1999). "Vibe Chief Exiting for New Ventures". Daily News. New York. p. 73.
- ^ Hawtree, Christopher (Apr 8, 2000). "Book review: From bon mots to buzz words: The New Yorker, 75 this year, once set the gold standard for magazines". Features. The Independent. p. 11.
- ^ Taylor, Ihsan (Dec 5, 2010). "Paperback Row". New York Times Book Review. p. 62.
- ^ Treadwell, Sandy (Jan 22, 1973). "And Now for the Good News at Time Inc". New York. Vol. 6, no. 4. p. 42.
- ^ Powers, Dennis (Jun 21, 1965). "At the Top of the Worst Seller List". Oakland Tribune. p. D21.
- ^ Sissman, L. E. (Oct 31, 1971). "What Happens Next?: By Gilbert Rogin". The New York Times. p. BR6.
- ^ Skow, John (November 29, 1971). "Socks Washed in Tears". Time. Vol. 98, no. 22. p. 87.
- ^ Richler, Mordecai (Mar 30, 1980). "A Melancholy Journey: Journey Author's Query". The New York Times. p. BR2.
- ^ a b Lidz, Frank (September 21, 2010). "The Virtuoso of the Canorama: Gil Rogin Ran SI at Its Peak, but His Fiction Might Make Him Immortal". Culture. The New York Observer.