William Shawn (né Chon; August 31, 1907 – December 8, 1992) was an American magazine editor who edited The New Yorker from 1952 until 1987.

Early life and education

Shawn was born William Chon on August 31, 1907, in Chicago, Illinois, to Benjamin T. Chon, a cutlery salesman, and Anna Bransky Chon. He was the youngest of five. His older siblings were Harold (1892–1967), Melba (1894–1964), Nelson (1898–1974), and Myron (1902–1987). His family were non-observant Jews from Eastern Europe. William dropped out of the University of Michigan after two years (1925–1927) and began working.

Career

Early years

Shawn traveled to Las Vegas, New Mexico, where he worked at the local newspaper, The Optic. He returned to Chicago and worked as a journalist. Around 1930 he changed the spelling of his last name to Shawn. In 1932, he and his wife, Cecille, moved to New York City, where he tried to start a career as a composer.

While The Addams Family comics debuted in The New Yorker in 1938, Shawn banned them from the publication following the release of the 1964 TV series, as he did not want the image of his publication associated with a mainstream sitcom. The ban remained in effect long after the TV series concluded, persisting until Shawn's retirement in 1987.

Later years

When Advance Publications bought the magazine in 1985, the new owners promised that the magazine's editorship would not change hands until Shawn chose to retire. But speculation about his successor, a longtime topic of publishing-world chatter, grew.

Shawn had been editor for a very long time, and the usual criticism of the magazine—that it had become stale and dull—was growing more pointed. In retrospect, the journalist Joseph Nocera described him as "legendary, if wildly overrated." Advance chairman S.I. Newhouse forced Shawn out in February 1987,

Personal life

Shawn married journalist Cecille Lyon (1906–2005) in 1928, and the couple had three children: writer and actor Wallace Shawn, and twins Allen Shawn and Mary. Mary, who was eventually diagnosed with autism, was sent away from the family when she was eight years old to attend a special school, and later institutionalized. Allen became a composer. In 2007, he published a memoir, Wish I Could Be There, centering on his phobias.

In 1996, Shawn's longtime New Yorker colleague Lillian Ross wrote in a memoir that she and Shawn had had an affair from 1950 until his death, with Lyon's knowledge. Ross said that Shawn was also active in raising her adopted son, Erik. The memoir's publication was controversial, in part because Shawn deeply valued his privacy.

Influences and legacy

  • In 1998, Indian author Ved Mehta, who worked with Shawn at The New Yorker for almost three decades, published a biography of Shawn, Remembering Mr. Shawn's New Yorker: The Invisible Art of Editing.
  • Shawn was portrayed in the 2005 film Capote by Bob Balaban and in the 2012 film Hannah Arendt by Nicholas Woodeson.

References