Christopher Lehmann-Haupt (June 14, 1934 – November 7, 2018) was an American journalist, editor of The New York Times Book Review, critic, and novelist, based in New York City. He served as senior Daily Book Reviewer from 1969 to 1995.

Biography

Lehmann-Haupt was born on June 14, 1934, in Edinburgh, Scotland, while his parents were visiting his mother's family. He was the eldest of three sons of Leticia Jane Hargrave Grierson, a Scottish teacher and editor from Edinburgh, and Hellmut Otto Emil Lehmann-Haupt, a German-born graphic arts historian and bibliographer. His family lived in New York City. Christopher had two younger brothers, Carl and Alexander (a member of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters).

Lehmann-Haupt was educated at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York, The Putney School in Vermont, and Swarthmore College. He did postgraduate work at the Yale School of Drama, from which he graduated in 1959 with a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater history and dramatic criticism.

In 1969, Lehmann-Haupt married writer Natalie Robins. They had two children together, Rachel and Noah, and lived in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.

Lehmann-Haupt died at Milstein Hospital in Manhattan on November 7, 2018, due to complications from a stroke.

In 1969, Lehmann-Haupt was appointed senior Daily Book Reviewer for The New York Times. He held this position until 1995, when he became a regular daily book reviewer. From 1965 until 2000, he wrote more than 4,000 book reviews and articles, on fiction and on subjects from trout fishing to Persian archaeology.

In April 2000, he assumed the job of chief obituary writer for The Times. He wrote advance obituaries and occasional daily obituaries until his retirement on June 30, 2006. Obituaries bearing his byline continued to run in The New York Times as of January 2020. In retirement he continued to write advance obituaries as a freelancer for The New York Times.

During these years he also taught writing at the Marymount College Writing Center and College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, the Bronx, New York. He also taught at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. He was appointed the editorial director of Delphinium Books, a literary small press that publishes works of fiction.

References

  • Recent and archived news articles by Christopher Lehmann-Haupt of The New York Times