Ben Sonnenberg
Encyclopedia
Benjamin "Ben" Sonnenberg, Jr. (December 30, 1936 – June 24, 2010) was an American publisher and the founder of the literary magazine Grand Street, which he began as a quarterly journal in 1981.
Sonnenberg was born on December 30, 1936, in Manhattan
, the son of publicist Benjamin Sonnenberg
, whose clients included such notables as Samuel Goldwyn
, William S. Paley
and David O. Selznick
, in addition to major corporations. In his 1991 autobiography, Lost Property: Memoirs and Confessions of a Bad Boy, Sonnenberg recounted his childhood growing up in a five-story townhouse on Gramercy Park
, where his father and his household staff of six entertained celebrities at regularly held dinner parties.
Sonnenberg started communicating in epigram
s at age seven and started writing his memoirs at age 13, inspired by Giacomo Casanova
's Histoire de ma vie
. He ran through a series of unsuccessful experiences at various private schools and never finished high school. He never attended college, educating himself by reading and developing close relationships with writers Ted Hughes
and W. S. Merwin
.
With his father's wealth, he was able to travel around Europe in his 20s, living at times in London
and Málaga
. Jane Street, the first of three plays he wrote, was about two women living in a Greenwich Village
apartment. The play lasted four nights Off-Off-Broadway
.
He sold his father's 37-room townhouse in 1979 for $1.5 million, a building which The New York Times
described as "often called the finest private house in New York City". He used the proceeds from the sale to support the creation of Grand Street, which was established as a journal in 1981 with a spirit similar to Horizon
and The Dial
and named after the street where his father grew up on Manhattan's Lower East Side
.
The inaugural issue of Grand Street, which he edited from the dining room of his Riverside Drive
apartment, featured works from his friends Hughes and Merwin, as well as pieces by Northrop Frye
, John Hollander
, Alice Munro
and James Salter
, along with excerpts of Glenway Wescott
's journals. Sonnenberg published material based solely on his preferences, saying in a 1989 interview with Newsday
that "I thought a magazine would be a good way to give money to individuals whose writing I liked". Circulation of the magazine was never more than 5,000 copies. He edited the magazine until 1990, when health problems forced him to sell the publication. The magazine ended publication in 2004.
A review of the Winter 1985 issue in The Washington Post
called Grand Street "Hellenic, leftish, mandarin, impeccable", of which Sonnenberg would later say that he found that the accolade "hardest to accept is 'impeccable'". In his obituary, The New York Times
described Grand Street as "one of the most revered literary magazines of the postwar era". Sonnenberg reminisced that "I printed only what I liked; never once did I publish an editorial statement; I offered no writers' guidelines; and I stopped when I couldn’t turn the pages anymore".
Around 1970, Sonnenberg developed symptoms of multiple sclerosis
. He started walking with a cane, later needed a wheelchair and was ultimately paralyzed from the neck down. Despite being a parapalegic, he continued communicating with his colleagues and writing by dictation. Once he was no longer able to continue publishing the magazine and as his inheritance was depleted, he sold Grand Street, though he continued to hold frequent literary gatherings at his apartment after the sale.
He was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
in 1994
Sonnenberg died at age 73 in Manhattan on June 24, 2010, due to complications of multiple sclerosis. He was survived by his third wife, Dorothy Gallagher, as well as by three daughters and five grandchildren. He also had a stepson and three stepgrandchildren.
Sonnenberg was born on December 30, 1936, in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, the son of publicist Benjamin Sonnenberg
Benjamin Sonnenberg
Benjamin Sonnenberg was a Russian-born American press agent who represented celebrities and major corporations, who was best known for the lavish entertaining he did for his clients and other notables at his Manhattan townhouse located at 19 Gramercy Park South.Sonnenberg was born in...
, whose clients included such notables as Samuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...
, William S. Paley
William S. Paley
William S. Paley was the chief executive who built Columbia Broadcasting System from a small radio network into one of the foremost radio and television network operations in the United States.-Early life:...
and David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
, in addition to major corporations. In his 1991 autobiography, Lost Property: Memoirs and Confessions of a Bad Boy, Sonnenberg recounted his childhood growing up in a five-story townhouse on Gramercy Park
Gramercy Park
Gramercy Park is a small, fenced-in private park in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park is at the core of both the neighborhood referred to as either Gramercy or Gramercy Park and the Gramercy Park Historic District...
, where his father and his household staff of six entertained celebrities at regularly held dinner parties.
Sonnenberg started communicating in epigram
Epigram
An epigram is a brief, interesting, usually memorable and sometimes surprising statement. Derived from the epigramma "inscription" from ἐπιγράφειν epigraphein "to write on inscribe", this literary device has been employed for over two millennia....
s at age seven and started writing his memoirs at age 13, inspired by Giacomo Casanova
Giacomo Casanova
Giacomo Girolamo Casanova de Seingalt was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, Histoire de ma vie , is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of the customs and norms of European social life during the 18th century...
's Histoire de ma vie
Histoire de ma vie
Histoire de ma vie is both the memoir and autobiography of Giacomo Casanova, a famous 18th century Italian adventurer...
. He ran through a series of unsuccessful experiences at various private schools and never finished high school. He never attended college, educating himself by reading and developing close relationships with writers Ted Hughes
Ted Hughes
Edward James Hughes OM , more commonly known as Ted Hughes, was an English poet and children's writer. Critics routinely rank him as one of the best poets of his generation. Hughes was British Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.Hughes was married to American poet Sylvia Plath, from 1956 until...
and W. S. Merwin
W. S. Merwin
William Stanley Merwin is an American poet, credited with over 30 books of poetry, translation and prose. During the 1960s anti-war movement, Merwin's unique craft was thematically characterized by indirect, unpunctuated narration. In the 1980s and 1990s, Merwin's writing influence derived from...
.
With his father's wealth, he was able to travel around Europe in his 20s, living at times in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Málaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
. Jane Street, the first of three plays he wrote, was about two women living in a Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
apartment. The play lasted four nights Off-Off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway theatrical productions in New York City are those in theatres that are smaller than Broadway and Off-Broadway theatres. Off-Off-Broadway theaters are often defined as theaters that have fewer than 100 seats, though the term can be used for any show in the New York City area that...
.
He sold his father's 37-room townhouse in 1979 for $1.5 million, a building which The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
described as "often called the finest private house in New York City". He used the proceeds from the sale to support the creation of Grand Street, which was established as a journal in 1981 with a spirit similar to Horizon
Horizon (magazine)
Horizon: A Review of Literature and Art was an influential literary magazine published in London, between 1940 and 1949. It was edited by Cyril Connolly who gave a platform to a wide range of distinguished and emerging writers....
and The Dial
The Dial
The Dial was an American magazine published intermittently from 1840 to 1929. In its first form, from 1840 to 1844, it served as the chief publication of the Transcendentalists. In the 1880s it was revived as a political magazine...
and named after the street where his father grew up on Manhattan's Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
.
The inaugural issue of Grand Street, which he edited from the dining room of his Riverside Drive
Riverside Drive (Manhattan)
Riverside Drive is a scenic north-south thoroughfare in the Manhattan borough of New York City. The boulevard runs on the west side of Manhattan, generally parallel to the Hudson River from 72nd Street to near the George Washington Bridge at 181st Street...
apartment, featured works from his friends Hughes and Merwin, as well as pieces by Northrop Frye
Northrop Frye
Herman Northrop Frye, was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, considered one of the most influential of the 20th century....
, John Hollander
John Hollander
John Hollander is a Jewish-American poet and literary critic. As of 2007, he is Sterling Professor Emeritus of English at Yale University...
, Alice Munro
Alice Munro
Alice Ann Munro is a Canadian short-story writer, the winner of the 2009 Man Booker International Prize for her lifetime body of work, a three-time winner of Canada's Governor General's Award for fiction, and a perennial contender for the Nobel Prize...
and James Salter
James Salter
James Salter is an American novelist and short-story writer. Once a career officer and pilot in the United States Air Force, he abandoned the military profession in 1957 after successful publication of his first novel, The Hunters.After a brief career at film writing and film directing, Salter...
, along with excerpts of Glenway Wescott
Glenway Wescott
Glenway Wescott was a major American novelist during the 1920-1940 period and a figure in the American expatriate literary community in Paris during the 1920s. Wescott was gay. His relationship with longtime companion Monroe Wheeler lasted from 1919 until Wescott's death.-Biography:Wescott was...
's journals. Sonnenberg published material based solely on his preferences, saying in a 1989 interview with Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
that "I thought a magazine would be a good way to give money to individuals whose writing I liked". Circulation of the magazine was never more than 5,000 copies. He edited the magazine until 1990, when health problems forced him to sell the publication. The magazine ended publication in 2004.
A review of the Winter 1985 issue in The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
called Grand Street "Hellenic, leftish, mandarin, impeccable", of which Sonnenberg would later say that he found that the accolade "hardest to accept is 'impeccable'". In his obituary, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
described Grand Street as "one of the most revered literary magazines of the postwar era". Sonnenberg reminisced that "I printed only what I liked; never once did I publish an editorial statement; I offered no writers' guidelines; and I stopped when I couldn’t turn the pages anymore".
Around 1970, Sonnenberg developed symptoms of multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
. He started walking with a cane, later needed a wheelchair and was ultimately paralyzed from the neck down. Despite being a parapalegic, he continued communicating with his colleagues and writing by dictation. Once he was no longer able to continue publishing the magazine and as his inheritance was depleted, he sold Grand Street, though he continued to hold frequent literary gatherings at his apartment after the sale.
He was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature is the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by George IV, in order to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". The Society's first president was Thomas Burgess, who later became the Bishop of Salisbury...
in 1994
Sonnenberg died at age 73 in Manhattan on June 24, 2010, due to complications of multiple sclerosis. He was survived by his third wife, Dorothy Gallagher, as well as by three daughters and five grandchildren. He also had a stepson and three stepgrandchildren.