Robert Emmett Ginna Jr

Robert Emmett Ginna Jr. (b. 1925) is a retired magazine reporter and editor, a film producer and screenwriter, and a Harvard faculty member. He co-founded People magazine, served as its first editor, and later was Editor-in-Chief of Little Brown.

Early life

Ginna was born to Robert Emmett Ginna, a Rochester Gas and Electric executive, and his wife, the former Margaret McCall, both descended from Irish immigrants.^[1][2][3] Ginna and his father were named for Robert Emmett, an Irish revolutionary who was executed by British authorities in 1803.^[3] After an admission to Harvard College, Ginna enlisted in the Navy at age 17, serving in the Pacific during World War Two.^[3] He graduated from the University of Rochester in 1948,^[4] and went on to get a Master's in Art History from Harvard University.^[3]

Career

In his early career, Ginna worked as a reporter and editor for Horizon, Life, and Scientific American.^[2] In 1955, Ginna interviewed Sean O'Casey for NBC television; A decade later, Ginna would produce a film about O'Casey.^[5][6] In 1960, Ginna interviewed filmmaker Stanley Kubrick for Horizon.^[7][8]

In February 1962, Ginnna authored "Life in the Afternoon", an essay about meeting Ernest Hemingway in 1958 Cuba.^[9][10]

During the 1960s, Ginna was a screeenwriter and film producer. Ginna worked with famous filmmaker John Ford on the film Young Cassidy, but Ford had to be replaced mid-shoot.^[11][12]

In 1974, Ginna co-founded People magazine and served as its first Editor-in-Chief.^[13] From 1977 to 1980, Ginna was the Editor-in-Chief of Little Brown Publishing ; In that role, he was influential in writer James Salter's switch from screenplays to novels.^[14]

From 1988 to 2002, Ginna served on the faculty of Harvard University, teaching writing and filmmaking. In 2003, Ginna authored The Irish Way: A Walk Through Ireland's Past and Present.^[15][16]

In 2006, Ginna was profiled for his role in creating an academic press at New England College.^[17]

Selected works

• "Our Man from New York Observes Carol Reed Directing 'Our Man in Havana' " Horizon , Nov. 1959
• "Life in the afternoon : Ernest Hemingway, some quiet conversations regarding fishing, writing, war, bars, wine, hunting, and so on" (1962) Esquire Magazine^[18]
• FDR (1963) with Roger Butterfield and Robert D. Graff
• "Talking to Sean O’Casey on American Television" (1974)
• "In Search of 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'" (2002)^[19][20]
• The Irish Way: A Walk Through Ireland's Past and Present (2003)^[16]

Filmography

Producer

• Brotherly Love (1970)^[21]
• Before Winter Comes (1969) ^[22]
• Young Cassidy (1965)
• The Flood (1962)

Screenplays

• The Last Challenge (1967) ^[23]
• World Wide '60 (1960)

Personal life

Ginna married Margaret Williams; The pair had two children. She died in 2004.^[24] In 2017, their son dedicated his book What Editors Do to his parents.^[25] After his wife's death, Ginna was the companion of journalist Gail Sheehy, who died in 2020 at the age of 83.^[26]

References

1. Salpukas, Agis (May 26, 2015). . The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2015-05-26.
2. Keppen, Julie (October 4, 2004). Contemporary Authors. Cengage Gale. ISBN 978-0-7876-6706-1 – via Google Books.
3. "Rochester • University of Rochester". www.rochester.edu.
4. http://www.lib.rochester.edu/IN/RBSCP/University-History/ATTACHMENTS/Commencement/1948.pdf
5. O'Casey, Sean (1974). The Sting and the Twinkle: Conversations with Sean O'Casey. Barnes & Noble Books. ISBN 978-0-06-494818-0.
6. Nelson, James (February 4, 1958). "Wisdom: Conversations with the Elder Wise Men of Our Day". Norton – via Google Books.
7. Duncan, Paul (February 4, 2003). Stanley Kubrick: Visual Poet, 1928-1999. Taschen. ISBN 978-3-8228-1592-2 – via Google Books.
8. "Stanley Kubrick speaks for himself". EW.com.
9. Canada, Mark (April 3, 2013). Literature and Journalism: Inspirations, Intersections, and Inventions from Ben Franklin to Stephen Colbert. Springer. ISBN 978-1-137-32930-1 – via Google Books.
10. Buchholtz, Mirosława; Guttfeld, Dorota (July 21, 2022). Ernest Hemingway in Interview and Translation. Springer Nature. ISBN 978-3-031-07230-7 – via Google Books.
11. McBride, Joseph (February 11, 2011). Searching for John Ford. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-4968-0056-5 – via Google Books.
12. Grant, Barry Keith (February 4, 2003). John Ford's Stagecoach. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-79743-6 – via Google Books.
13. Salter, James (November 1, 2017). Don't Save Anything: Uncollected Essays, Articles, and Profiles. Catapult. ISBN 978-1-64009-001-9 – via Google Books.
14. Levasseur, Jennifer; Rabalais, Kevin (November 23, 2015). Conversations with James Salter. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-4968-0358-0 – via Google Books.
15. "Robert Emmett Ginna". October 2, 2015.
16. Ginna, Robert Emmett (February 4, 2003). "The Irish Way: A Walk Through Ireland's Past and Present". Random House – via Google Books.
17. "Concord Monitor 16 Apr 2006, page 39". Newspapers.com.
18. "Esquire". 1962 – via books.google.com.
19. GINNA, ROBERT EMMETT (2002). "In Search of "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre"". The American Scholar. 71 (4): 75–89. JSTOR 41213368 – via JSTOR.
20. https://books.google.com/books?id=jgsEAAAAYAA
21. Reid, John Howard (March 2006). America's Best, Britain's Finest. Lulu.com. ISBN 978-1-4116-7877-4 – via books.google.com.
22. Chibnall, Steve (15 June 2021). J. Lee Thompson. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-1-5261-6286-1.
23. Pitts, Michael R. (4 January 2013). Western Movies. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6372-5 – via books.google.com.
24. . The New York Times. May 16, 2004. Archived from the original on 2015-05-28.
25. Ginna, Peter (October 6, 2017). What Editors Do: The Art, Craft, and Business of Book Editing. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-29997-6 – via Google Books.
26. Seelye, Katharine Q. (August 25, 2020). "Gail Sheehy, Journalist, Author and Social Observer, Dies at 83". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.

External links

• Ginna's collection of James Salter material at the Harry Ransom Center