Robert Fair de Graff

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Robert Fair de Graff (1895-1981) was an American book publisher and founder of Pocket Books. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Robert Fair de Graff was born in Plainfield, New Jersey.

He studied at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut. Afterward, he went back to New Jersey where he worked repairing cars. [2]

Career

In 1922, he became a salesman for his cousin Nelson Doubleday's company, then known as Doubleday, Page and Company in Garden City, Long Island. By 1925, he had become president of Garden City Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Doubleday, Page and Company. [3] [4]

In 1939, de Graff founded Pocket Books with financial support from Simon & Schuster. [5] [6]

Personal life and death

De Graff was married to Dorcas Marie Bomann when he died at his home in Mill Neck, Long Island, New York, in 1981 at the age of 86. Services were held at the Episcopal Church of St. John’s of Lattingtown in Locust Valley, Long Island. [7] [8] [9] Robert is buried in Locust Valley Cemetery, Locust Valley, New York.

Robert F. De Graff, residence in Mill Neck, Long Island, New York. LOC gsc.5a23634.tif

References

  1. ↑ Ennis, Thomas W. (November 3, 1981). "Robert F. De Graff Dies At 86; Was Pocket Books Founder". The New York Times. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  2. ↑ Hamersly, Lewis Randolph; Leonard, John W.; Mohr, William Frederick; Knox, Herman Warren; Holmes, Frank R.; Downs, Winfield Scott (1907). Who's who in New York City and State. L.R. Hamersly Company.
  3. ↑ Davis, Kenneth C. (1984). Two-bit culture: the paperbacking of America . Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
  4. ↑ Patell, Cyrus R. K.; Williams, Deborah Lindsay (2024). The Oxford History of the Novel in English: Volume 8: American Fiction Since 1940. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-284472-9.
  5. ↑ "Corporate history". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  6. ↑ Thompson, Clive. (May 2013). "The Revolutionary Effect of the Paperback Book". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  7. ↑ Ennis, Thomas W. (November 3, 1981). "Robert F. De Graff Dies At 86; Was Pocket Books Founder". The New York Times. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  8. ↑ Markert, John (2016-03-15). Publishing Romance: The History of an Industry, 1940s to the Present. McFarland. ISBN   978-1-4766-2124-1.
  9. ↑ Agnew, Jeremy (2018-07-25). The Age of Dimes and Pulps: A History of Sensationalist Literature, 1830-1960. McFarland. ISBN   978-1-4766-3257-5.
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