Bernard Shir-Cliff
Bernard W. Shir-Cliff (November 7, 1924 – February 28, 2017)
Early life and education
Born in Troy, New York, Shir-Cliff attended Mountain Lakes High School and graduated from Columbia University,[3] where he was the editor-in-chief of the humorist magazine, Jester of Columbia.[4]
Career
As the editor at Ballantine in the 1950s and 1960s, he handled the
In 1956 he edited the humor anthology, The Wild Reader (Ballantine), featuring essays, poems and satirical pieces by
The screenplay of
In the early 1980s, when he was editor-in-chief of Warner Books, Shir-Cliff commented on the publishing recession and lower reprint prices:
- You don't see the five to six million copies sold–it's more like three million for a big book. In five years, the book may reach six million, but you don't acquire it with that long-range figure in mind. Another reason is that some massmarket paperbacks have reached $4.95, and that may be the limit. The recession has affected paperback purchases. Where a reader might have bought two books, now he'll buy one–the tried-and-true author.[6]
Until his recent retirement, Shir-Cliff was an agent handling such books as John R. Dann's Song of the Earth (2006).
References
- ^ "Bernard Shir-Cliff Obituary (2017) - New York Times". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
- ^ "Bernard Shir-Cliff Obituary (2017) - New York Times". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
- ^ "Columbia Daily Spectator 30 April 1948 — Columbia Spectator". spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
- ^ "Bernard Shir-Cliff (MAD Contributor - USA)". MADtrash.com. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
- ^ Mitgang, Herbert. "Publishing: Recession Prompting New Strategies," The New York Times, April 1, 1983.