Alfred A. Knopf Jr.

Alfred Abraham Knopf Jr. (June 17, 1918 – February 14, 2009) was an American publisher. He was one of the founders of Atheneum Publishers in 1959.

Alfred A. Knopf Jr.
Alfred A. Knopf Jr. in 1937
Born	(1918-06-17)June 17, 1918 White Plains, New York, U.S.
Died	February 14, 2009(2009-02-14) (aged 90) U.S.
Occupation	Publisher
Parent(s)	Alfred A. Knopf Sr. Blanche Knopf

Biography

He was the only child of publisher Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Wolf. He was born in White Plains, New York, on June 17, 1918, and as a child was given the nickname "Pat". His parents founded the book company Alfred A. Knopf in 1915. In 1921, Knopf attended the Birch Wathen School while his parents were in Europe.^[1] At the age of seven, in 1925, he was sent to a boarding school, first at the Riverdale Country School, in the Bronx, New York. From 1933 until 1937 he attended Phillips Exeter Academy and attended Union College for three years.^[2]

The summer after he graduated from Exeter he ran away from home, despondent over being turned down by Princeton University. Following a police search, he was found in Salt Lake City, Utah.^[3]

During World War II, Knopf joined the Army Air Force and served in the 446th Bomb Group of the Mighty Eighth Air Force. During his time in the service, he piloted the B-24 Bomber "Rough Buddy" through almost 100 missions alongside engineer Richard E. Morton. He became a captain.

In 1952, he married Alice Laine. They had three children, Alison Knopf Insinger, Susan Knopf, and David A. Knopf.^[4]

He was one of the founders of Atheneum Publishers in 1959. He died on February 14, 2009, from complications following a fall.^[2]

References

1. Claridge, Laura (2016). The lady with the Borzoi : Blanche Knopf, literary tastemaker extraordinaire (First ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 68. ISBN 9780374114251. OCLC 908176194.
2. Christopher Lehmann-Haupt (February 16, 2009). "Alfred A. Knopf Jr., Influential Publisher, Dies at 90". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-22. Alfred A. Knopf Jr., who left the noted publishing house run by his parents to become one of the founders of Atheneum Publishers in 1959, died on Saturday. He was 90, the last of the surviving founders, and lived in New York City. The cause of death was complications following a fall, his wife, Alice, said.
3. . Time magazine. March 23, 1959. Archived from the original on February 1, 2011. Retrieved 2009-02-22. Police in seven states were looking for Alfred A. Knopf Jr., only son of leading Publisher (Borzoi Books), Gourmet, and Skier Alfred A. Knopf Sr. Young (19) Knopf had left home and a summer job with a printing firm, despondent over being refused by Princeton, and determined (as he said in a note) not to return till he made good. A week later police found him in Salt Lake City, barefoot, hungry and broke. He had started out with $15, the last $2 of which someone had stolen from him while he was sleeping on a lawn in Utah. Bitterly, "Pat" Knopf noted that only truck drivers had helped him ("The rest of the people are a bunch of damned snobs") in his hitchhike attempt to reach Reno, where he "knew a lot of rich people" and hoped to get started on his own.
4. "Ms. Knopf Wed To Chip Insinger". The New York Times. May 6, 1990. Alison Laine Knopf, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Knopf Jr. of Westport, Conn., was married yesterday to Thomas Christopher Insinger, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas H. Insinger of Philadelphia. The Reverend Peter F. Bannan performed the ceremony at Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Church in New York.