James Smith Cerruti

Background

James Cerruti was born on July 12, 1918, in New York City, New York, United States.

Education

In 1939, James graduated magna cum laude from the City College of New York. Later, he received a master's degree in English Literature from Syracuse University.

Career

Cerruti began his career as an educator, first at Syracuse University in 1939, followed by a stint at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1941. During World War II, James served in the Army Signal Corps.

In 1947, Cerruti joined the staff at Holiday magazine and served as a senior editor there until 1962, when he joined National Geographic magazine as its editor, a post he held until 1983. There, at National Geographic, James also worked as a senior associate editor with contract writers. Several of the authors he edited, including McCarry and Condon, named characters in their books after Cerruti.

Moreover, during his career, Cerruti found time to write articles for magazines, such as Holiday, Esquire and National Geographic.

Achievements

• James Smith Cerruti was mostly known as an editor, who worked for Holiday and National Geographic magazines. He edited writers, such as John Steinbeck, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature; Alfred Hitchcock, the legendary film director; writers Peter Benchely and Paul Theroux; and noted mystery and thriller writers, such as Richard Condon and Charles McCarry.
  
  Both McCarry and Condon paid their respects to Mr. Cerruti by naming characters in their books in his honor. Condon often had a "Cerruti" character, who was a criminal mastermind.

Connections

James was married to Hannah Hester Brown Cerruti. Their marriage produced two children - a son, James L., and a daughter, Vera V. Magruder.

child:

James L. Cerruti

child:

Vera V. Magruder

Wife:

Hannah Hester Brown Cerruti