Gilbert Avery Harrison was the owner and editor of the influential American magazine The New Republic

The New Republic

The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...

between 1953 and 1974.

He was born in Detroit on May 18, 1915, one of three children of Samuel and Mabel Wolfe Harrison. In 1937 he earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles

University of California, Los Angeles

The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...

, where he had also been an editor of the Daily Bruin

Daily Bruin

The Daily Bruin is the student newspaper at the University of California, Los Angeles.-Frequency and governance:When classes are in session, the Bruin is published Monday through Friday during the school year and once a week on Mondays in the summer quarter.It is overseen by the ASUCLA...

. He then worked at the University Religious Conference, which promoted inter-religious cooperation. In that position he met Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...

, who recruited him as chairman of the youth division of the Office of Civilian Defense

Office of Civilian Defense

Office of Civilian Defense was a United States federal emergency war agency set up May 20, 1941 by Executive Order 8757 to co-ordinate state and federal measures for protection of civilians in case of war emergency...

 in Washington, D.C.

During World War II, he was in the Army Air Forces and served in the Philippines. In 1948, Harrison became national chairman of the American Veterans Committee

American Veterans Committee

The American Veterans Committee was founded in 1943 as a liberal veterans organization and an alternative to groups such as the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which supported a conservative political and social agenda. The organization's roots were planted in 1942 when Sgt...

.

Harrison married Anne Blaine in 1951. They had three sons, James, David and Joel, and one daughter, Eleanor.

He wrote two books, “A Timeless Affair: The Life of Anita McCormick Blaine” (University of Chicago Press, 1979), a biography of his grandmother-in-law; and “The Enthusiast: A Life of Thornton Wilder” (Ticknor & Fields, 1983).

Harrison received a George Polk Award in 1964 for his work in revitalizing The New Republic.