Eleanor Friede
Eleanor Kask | |
|---|---|
| Born | Eleanor Claire Kask November 12, 1920 Rochester, New York, U.S. |
| Died | July 14, 2008 (aged 87) |
| Education | Hofstra University |
| Occupations | Book editor, literary agent |
| Spouse | Donald Friede (to 1993) |
Eleanor Friede (born Eleanor Claire Kask; November 12, 1921 – July 14, 2008) was an American book editor and literary agent, best known for bringing the 1970 novella Jonathan Livingston Seagull to publication.
Early life and career
Born Eleanor Claire Kask on November 12, 1921, in Rochester, New York,[1][2] Friede was the first born child of Claire (née Kassick) and John Kask.[3] Raised in Valley Stream, she graduated with honors from Hofstra University and shortly thereafter went to work for World Publishing in publicity and marketing.
Friede was working as a marketing director at Macmillan in 1968 when company president Jeremiah Kaplan convinced her to become an editor. A year later she persuaded Macmillan to buy Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a fable about a seagull who breaks from his flock in search of freedom. The novella by Richard Bach sold more than three million copies in hardcover.
In 1974, Friede received her own imprint at Delacorte Press. Following Delacorte's purchase by Doubleday in the early 1980s she launched Eleanor Friede Books, a literary agency. One of the books published under the Delacorte Press was Somewhere a Cat is Waiting, a 1976 collection of three of the author Derek Tangye's books, whose works were affectionately referred to as The Minack Chronicles.
Personal life and death
She married Donald Friede, a World Publishing editor, in 1951. He died in 1965.
Friede died in Charlottesville, Virginia, on July 14, 2008, at the age of 87.[4]
References
- ↑ "Lt. Comm. John M. Kask's Daughter Betrothed to William H. Pearsall". Newsday [Nassau edition]. October 27, 1942. p. 13. Retrieved May 30, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
Lieutenant Commander John M. Kask and Mrs. John M. Kask of Valley Stream and Cuba have announced the engagement of their daughter, Miss Eleanor Claire, to William H. Pearsall. Lieutenant Commander Kask is Captain of the Port at the Naval Operations Base 111 Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Miss Kask was graduated this from Hofstra College, where year she was a member of Wreath and Foil sorority. [...] An early Spring wedding is planned by the couple.
- ↑ "United States, Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J52D-WYC : 12 January 2021), Eleanor K Friede, 14 Jul 2008; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
- ↑ "United States, Census, 1930", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X78P-3WD : Wed Mar 06 05:26:31 UTC 2024), Entry for John M Kask and Claire Kask, 1930.
- ↑ "Chatter: Broadway". Variety. August 29, 1973. p. 45. ProQuest 963289463.
Eleanor Friede, the book editor who sent 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull' on its nonstop flight to publishing glory in 1970, died on July 14 at her home in Charlottesville, Va. She was 87. [...] Kask was born in Rochester, N.Y., and grew up in Valley Stream on Long Island, where she haunted the town's public library. Just weeks after graduating cum laude from Hofstra University, she got a job at World Publishing and began working her way up the ladder in publicity and marketing. She married Donald Friede, an editor at World, in 1951. He died in 1965.