Speaking Freely: My Life in Publishing and Human Rights

by Robert L. Bernstein, Toni Morrison (Foreword by)

Overview

What do Dr. Seuss, William Faulkner, Toni Morrison, Andrei Sakharov, and James Michener have in common? They were all published by Bob Bernstein during his twenty-five-year run as president of Random House, before he brought the dissidents Liu Binyan, Jacobo Timerman, Natan Sharansky, and Václav Havel to worldwide attention in his role as the father of modern human rights.

Starting as an office boy at Simon & Schuster in 1946, Bernstein moved to Random House in 1956 and succeeded Bennett Cerf as president ten years later. The rest is publishing and human rights history.

In a charming and self-effacing work, Bernstein reflects for the first time on his fairy tale publishing career, hobnobbing with Truman Capote and E.L. Doctorow; conspiring with Kay Thompson on the Eloise series; attending a rally for Random House author George McGovern with film star Claudette Colbert; and working with publishing luminaries including Dick Simon, Alfred Knopf, Robert Gottlieb, André Schiffrin, Peter Osnos, Susan Peterson, and Jason Epstein as Bernstein grew Random House from a $40 million to an $800 million-plus “money making juggernaut,” as Thomas Maier called it in his biography of Random House owner Si Newhouse. In a book sure to be savored by anyone who has worked in the publishing industry, fought for human rights, or wondered how Theodor Geisel became Dr. Seuss, Speaking Freely beautifully captures a bygone era in the book industry and the first crucial years of a worldwide movement to protect free speech and challenge tyranny around the globe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620971710
Publisher:	New Press, The
Publication date:	05/10/2016
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Robert L. Bernstein served as the president of Random House for twenty-five years. After being sent to Moscow as part of a delegation of American publishers in 1973, he established the organization that became Human Rights Watch. He was the author of Speaking Freely: My Life in Publishing and Human Rights (The New Press).

Table of Contents

Foreword Toni Morrison ix

Preface xiii

1 Youth 1

2 Office Boy in Waiting 19

3 At Random 47

4 On Top, Suddenly 72

5 Politics and Publishing 95

6 The Russians 118

7 The Birth of Helsinki Watch 140

8 From RCA to Newhouse 159

9 Finding Our Footing: Human Rights, 1980-85 174

10 The Soviet Union Implodes: Human Rights, 1985-90 201

11 Random House in the 1980s: The Newhouse Years 226

12 China 250

13 A New Organization, a New Approach 276

14 Some Thoughts on the Future of Human Rights in the Middle East 292

Epilogue 321

Acknowledgments 327

Index 333

Editorial Reviews

03/28/2016
Bernstein, former president of Random House and founder of the organization now known as Human Rights Watch, has written two memoirs in one—hardly surprising since he’s led two extraordinary careers in one lifetime. In the first half of the book, Bernstein recounts his work in publishing, starting as an office assistant in 1947 at Simon & Schuster and eventually serving as president of Random House for 25 years. This section is a hodgepodge of amusing anecdotes about famous writers and publishers hobnobbing during the publishing industry’s heyday. A trip to Moscow in 1973 with the Association of American Publishers (AAP) to meet with Soviet publishers is a turning point in Bernstein’s career and encourages his foray into human rights advocacy, first publishing the books of dissidents from Russia and China, and then running Human Rights Watch. The second half benefits from a smoother narrative about the beginnings of the worldwide movement to protect freedom of speech. Bernstein’s story demonstrates the vital role played by the publishing industry in the global fight for human rights. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Speaking Freely:
“Mr. Bernstein, now 93 years old, tells his stories with great detail and good humor, finding ways to laugh at life while communicating his deep love for the friends he made along the way.”
—Wall Street Journal

“Bernstein's story demonstrates the vital role played by the publishing industry in the global fight for human rights.”
—Publishers Weekly

“[A] fascinating history of publishing in the 20th century and traces the beginnings of the human rights movement…A well-written book for lovers of book publishing and supporters of human rights.”
—Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Robert L. Bernstein:
"Our Kaiser and pope."
—Ted Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss)

"Among the most powerful men in the book industry."
—The New York Times

"A clear-sighted and even heroic founder of the human rights movement."
—The New Republic

“Robert Bernstein and his friends have constructed an idea, the idea of the human being in the fullness of his rights and protections. In every part of the world, their actions are ardently anticipated by those who suffer most. No one can imagine a more universal philosophy, a more explosive dynamic.”
—Jacobo Timerman

"When he was at the height of his corporate influence and visibility, Bob never flagged in seizing the moment to speak out and act…he showed how success in commerce and the corporate world could be reconciled with the principled exercises of citizenship."
—Leon Botstein

“Bob Bernstein has engaged life; evil does not awe or paralyze him; civic life is enhanced by his presence in it."
—Toni Morrison

“Bob Bernstein—like Mandela, Dr. King, Aung Sun Suu Kyi—is unique. He is a happy warrior, a visionary leader, and a political genius. There is no one else like him.”
—Harold Koh, former Assistant Secretary for Human Rights, U.S. State Department

“Robert Bernstein's long publishing career, particularly his quarter century as chief executive of Random House, was especially distinctive. From the incomparable output of Doctor Seuss to countless literary and non-fiction authors of stature and impact, Bob provided the resources and support to enable their work. He personally sought out books of political dissent from around the globe and sponsored their publication with exceptional passion. Bob's commitment to human rights made a historic contribution to the movement and shaped his unique legacy.”
—Peter Osnos

From the Publisher

2016-02-03
Former Random House President Bernstein gives a fascinating history of publishing in the 20th century and traces the beginnings of the human rights movement. The author's stories of beginning at Simon & Schuster after World War II as office boy "in waiting," working his way up into the sales department, and working on the Little Golden Books all vividly illustrate corporate life in the publishing industry. During that time, he was fortunate to meet Kay Thompson, who was looking for someone to promote a new line of Eloise merchandise to accompany her bestselling books. It did so well that, after being fired from Simon & Schuster, Bernstein continued promoting Eloise. In a perfect example of the importance of networking and knowing people, the owner of Books, Inc. in San Francisco mentioned Bernstein to Bennett Cerf, owner of Random House, who hired him in 1956. Thompson went with him, and he became her literary agent. As he notes, children's books fueled his career. He began with a book of stories linked to Shirley Temple's TV show and worked for years with Dr. Seuss. Within a decade, he was president of the company. He continued Cerf's publishing philosophy to print books because they were important, even if they weren't big sellers, and Cerf's legacy taught Bernstein to hire and delegate and to "beware of articulate incompetents." Without his high-profile position at Random House, he might not have been invited to Moscow in 1970, where he was exposed to the Soviet dissident movement, then in its infancy. From then on, the author was active in many organizations related to human rights, including the Association of American Publishers, the Fund for Free Expression, the International Freedom to Publish Commission, and as chair of Human Rights Watch. The Helsinki Final Act of 1975 helped hatch the Helsinki Watch and America's Watch, eventually covering the Middle East, China, and Africa; Bernstein was there for it all. A well-written book for lovers of book publishing and supporters of human rights.

Kirkus Reviews