Leo Lerman (May 23, 1914 – August 22, 1994) was an American writer and editor who worked for Condé Nast Publications for more than 50 years. Lerman also wrote for the New York Herald Tribune, Harper's Bazaar, Dance Magazine, and Vogue and was the editor of Playbill for decades.
Life and career
Lerman was born in New York City, the son of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, Ida (née Goldwasser) and Samuel Lerman. He grew up in East Harlem and Queens, New York. As a child, he accompanied his house-painter grandfather and father on various jobs in upper-class homes. He was openly gay. His partner was Gray Foy (1922-2012), who had a promising career as an artist, specializing in drawings, which was eventually eclipsed by his social life with Lerman: Foy's "Dimensions" was donated to the Museum of Modern Art in New York by actor Steve Martin, Foy's friend.
Selections from his journals, roughly 10 percent of the writings, were published in 2007 as The Grand Surprise: The Journals of Leo Lerman. Meant to be the source material for a novel he never wrote, the journals detail his social and business interactions with a remarkable number of famous and important people who passed through the New York arts scene from the 1940s to the '90s.
Lerman died in New York City on August 22, 1994. He was 80.
Filmography
- The Troublemaker (1964) - Dirty Old Man
Bibliography
- Lerman, Leo (edited by Stephen Pascal). The Grand Surprise: The Journals of Leo Lerman. Knopf, ISBN 978-1-4000-4439-9
References
- Grimes, William (August 23, 1994). Leo Lerman, 80, Editor at Conde Nast Magazines. The New York Times
- Gabriel, Trip (November 8, 1994). Leo Lerman Remembered for Buoyant Style, Wit and Elegance. The New York Times
- "Powell's Books | the World's Largest Independent Bookstore".
- ^ Amanda Fortini, "So, You Want To Be a Star? Leo Lerman's Gossipy Journals Offer Lessons on Fame", Slate, July 2, 2007
- Lerman, Leo (2007), Stephen Pascal (ed.), The Grand Surprise: The Journals of Leo Lerman, Knopf, ISBN 978-1-4000-4439-9
- Foy, Gray. "Gray Foy. Dimensions. c.1945–46, | MoMA". www.moma.org. Museum of Modern Art, New York. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
- "When Leo Lerman and Gray Foy Were Kings" Archived February 5, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, by Brook S. Mason
- Schillinger, Liesl (April 22, 2007). Life of the Party. The New York Times
External links
- Leo Lerman Papers at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Columbia University
- Leo Lerman papers, 1911-1986 (bulk 1940-1960), held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
- Leo Lerman at IMDb
| Media offices | ||
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| Preceded byRichard Locke | Editor of Vanity Fair 1983–1984 |
Succeeded byTina Brown |
 | This article about a United States journalist born in the 1910s is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |
- 1914 births
- 1994 deaths
- American magazine editors
- American LGBTQ journalists
- American LGBTQ writers
- Writers from Manhattan
- Vanity Fair (magazine) editors
- 20th-century American writers
- 20th-century American journalists
- American male journalists
- Jewish American journalists
- Gay Jews
- People from East Harlem
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- 20th-century American LGBTQ people
- American journalist, 1910s birth stubs