Background
Brendan Gill was born on October 4, 1914, in Hartford, Connecticut, United States.
Kingswood-Oxford School
Yale University
The New Yorker Magazine Company
(Late Bloomers applauds seventy-five individuals whose gre...)
Late Bloomers applauds seventy-five individuals whose greatest achievements occurred or were recognized later in their lives. The people profiled have come from different countries and diverse social backgrounds, yet all have one thing in common: They refused to give up their dreams just because they were no longer young, and thus managed to make the second half of their lives rich and fulfilling for themselves and for others. In sparkling profiles written by veteran New Yorker contributor Brendan Gill, the stories of these resilient people unfold. Some, such as Raymond Kroc (the founder of McDonalds) and Harry Truman changed careers relatively late in life. Others, such as botanist George Washington Carver, worked for years in their profession, finding recognition only later. Many of those profiled, including Julia Child and Gertrude Jekyll, didn't even begin producing their life's work until middle age. At once timely and timeless, Late Bloomers is an inspiration for everyone who wants to believe that it's never too late. Late Bloomers applauds seventy-five individuals whose greatest achievements occurred or were recognized later in their lives. The people profiled have come from different countries and diverse social backgrounds, yet all have one thing in common: They refused to give up their dreams just because they were no longer young, and thus managed to make the second half of their lives rich and fulfilling for themselves and for others. In sparkling profiles written by veteran New Yorker contributor Brendan Gill, the stories of these resilient people unfold. Some, such as Raymond Kroc (the founder of McDonalds) and Harry Truman changed careers relatively late in life. Others, such as botanist George Washington Carver, worked for years in their profession, finding recognition only later. Many of those profiled, including Julia Child and Gertrude Jekyll, didn't even begin producing their life's work until middle age. At once timely and timeless, Late Bloomers is an inspiration for everyone who wants to believe that it's never too late.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1579651089/?tag=2022091-20
1973
(For over sixty years Brendan Gill has been a contented in...)
For over sixty years Brendan Gill has been a contented inmate of the singular institution known as the New Yorker. This affectionate account of the magazine, long known as a home for congenital unemployables, is a celebration of its wards and attendantsWilliam Shawn, Harold Ross's gentle and courtly successor as editor; the incorrigible mischief-maker James Thurber; the two Whites, Katherine and E. B.; John O'Hara, "master of the fancied slight"; and, among a hundred others, Peter Arno, Saul Steinberg, Edmund Wilson, and Lewis Mumford. Brendan Gill has known them all, and by virtue of his virtually total recall, keen eye, and impeccable prose, his diverting portraits of these eccentrics in rage and repose are amply supplied with both dimples and warts. Here at the New Yorkernow updated with a new introduction detailing the reigns of Robert Gottlieb and Tina Brownis a delightful tour of New York's most glorious madhouse. For over sixty years Brendan Gill has been a contented inmate of the singular institution known as the New Yorker. This affectionate account of the magazine, long known as a home for congenital unemployables, is a celebration of its wards and attendantsWilliam Shawn, Harold Ross's gentle and courtly successor as editor; the incorrigible mischief-maker James Thurber; the two Whites, Katherine and E. B.; John O'Hara, "master of the fancied slight"; and, among a hundred others, Peter Arno, Saul Steinberg, Edmund Wilson, and Lewis Mumford. Brendan Gill has known them all, and by virtue of his virtually total recall, keen eye, and impeccable prose, his diverting portraits of these eccentrics in rage and repose are amply supplied with both dimples and warts. Here at the New Yorkernow updated with a new introduction detailing the reigns of Robert Gottlieb and Tina Brown is a delightful tour of New York's most glorious madhouse.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0306808102/?tag=2022091-20
1975
(Dust jacket notes: "Ranging from the white sands of the G...)
Dust jacket notes: "Ranging from the white sands of the Gulf Coast to the crowded New Jersey shore, from lake-dotted Ontario to the verdant beauty of British Columbia and California, Summer Places is a warm and happy account of where and how we spend our holidays. The entire continent of North America becomes, in summer, a sort of natural playground, rich in history and rich also in opportunities for sport and relaxation. In this book are pictured the beloved vacation resorts of the United States and Canada, evoked with accuracy and charm by Dudley Witney's camera and a text by Brendan Gill. Ranches in the Rockies, great camps in the Adirondacks, the airy summer houses of Long Island, the Berkshires, Maine, the Maritimes, the Muskokas - here they all are, in sunny abundance. Few photographers know the continent as intimately as Mr. Witney does; each area that he depicts is introduced by Mr. Gill, who provides in addition a substantial history of summer places in North America and shares with us his personal reminiscences of carefree summer times. The pictures and words of Summer Places become a single composite experience, awakening in our minds a memory of past pleasures and a anticipation of joyful times to come."
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0458934305/?tag=2022091-20
1978
(Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) is often described as the ...)
Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) is often described as the greatest of American architects. His works among them Taliesin North, Taliesin West, Fallingwater, the Johnson Wax buildings, the Guggenheim Museumearned him a good measure of his fame, but his flamboyant personal life earned him the rest. Here Brendan Gill, a personal friend of Wright and his family, gives us not only the fullest, fairest, and most entertaining account of Wright to date, but also strips away the many masks the architect tirelessly constructed to fascinate his admirers and mislead his detractors. Enriched by hitherto unpublished letters and 300 photographs and drawings, this definitive biography makes Wright, in all his creativity, crankiness, and zest, fairly leap from its pages. Frank Lloyd Wright (18671959) is often described as the greatest of American architects. His worksamong them Taliesin North, Taliesin West, Fallingwater, the Johnson Wax buildings, the Guggenheim Museumearned him a good measure of his fame, but his flamboyant personal life earned him the rest. Here Brendan Gill, a personal friend of Wright and his family, gives us not only the fullest, fairest, and most entertaining account of Wright to date, but also strips away the many masks the architect tirelessly constructed to fascinate his admirers and mislead his detractors. Enriched by hitherto unpublished letters and 300 photographs and drawings, this definitive biography makes Wright, in all his creativity, crankiness, and zest, fairly leap from its pages.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0306808722/?tag=2022091-20
1987
critic preservationist writer poet
Brendan Gill was born on October 4, 1914, in Hartford, Connecticut, United States.
Gill attended the Kingswood-Oxford School and graduated in 1936 from Yale University.
Gill maintained a prolific career in the New York literary scene, particularly as a contributor to the New Yorker. He began his career at the publication in 1936 as a regular contributor, becoming a film critic for the magazine in 1960 and one of its drama critics in 1968.
In 1987 he began ten years as the author of “The Sky Line,” a column about architecture that was popular with readers. In total, Gill’s work at the New Yorker spanned some fifty years, and he had the distinction of being on the staff of all four of the publication’s editors.
Gill worked on various preservation projects, including the effort to save New York City’s Grand Central Terminal. During his career, he also served as chair of the Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts and as chair of the October Fund. A member of the board of directors of the Whitney Museum of American Art, he also served as board chairperson of the Municipal Art Society and of the New York Landmarks Conservancy.
(Dust jacket notes: "Ranging from the white sands of the G...)
1978(Late Bloomers applauds seventy-five individuals whose gre...)
1973(For over sixty years Brendan Gill has been a contented in...)
1975(Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) is often described as the ...)
1987Gill was a chairman of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, a former chairman of the Municipal Art Society, a vice president of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a founder of the P.S. 1 Center for Contemporary Art in Long Island City, Queens.
Gill was neither conservative nor prim. In one of his ''Skyline'' columns, he wrote admiringly of Raimund Abraham's bold design for the Austrian Cultural Institute, a building planned for midtown Manhattan. A passionate civil libertarian, Gill was less offended by the porn theatres and sex shops of Times Square than by the prudishness of those determined to stamp them out.
Physical Characteristics: Gill's voice was a wonder: a tone of awed appreciation, pushed almost to the point of sarcasm. And the appreciation was as genuine as the slightly mocking edge was sharp. It was a comic balancing act, the voice of a man who responded enthusiastically to merit but was not willing to be fooled. Almost breathlessly, Mr. Gill would tout a subject to his listeners as if it were the second coming, while the exaggerated pitch of his voice assured them that it was not. His humor carried moral force.
Gill was married to Anne Barnard since 1936. In addition to his wife, Gill is survived by five daughters, Brenda Nelson, Holly, Madelaine, Rosemary, and Kate; two sons, Michael, and Charles; a brother, Thomas, and two grandchildren.