Peter Norton
Encyclopedia
Peter Norton is an American
programmer
, software publisher
, author
, and philanthropist
. He is best known for the computer programs and books that bear his name. Norton sold his PC-Software business to Symantec Corporation in 1990.
and raised in Seattle. He attended Reed College
in Portland, Oregon
, graduating in 1965. Before discovering microcomputer
s, he spent a dozen years working on mainframes
and minicomputer
s for companies including Boeing
and Jet Propulsion Laboratory
. His earliest low level system utilities
were designed to allow mainframe programmers access to some previous RAM
that IBM
normally reserved for diagnostics. This foreshadowed his personal computer work, where he became known as a savvy author of low level system utilities and reference books.
When the IBM PC
made its debut in 1981, Norton was among the first to buy one. After he was laid off during an aerospace industry cutback, he took up microcomputer programming to make ends meet. One day he accidentally erased a file. Rather than re-enter the data, as most would have, he decided to write a program to recover the information from the disk. His friends were delighted with the program and he developed a group of utility programs that he sold—one at a time—to user groups. In 1982, he founded Peter Norton Computing
with $30,000 and an IBM computer.
The company was a pioneer in DOS
-based utilities software. Its 1982 introduction of the Norton Utilities
included Norton's popular UNERASE tool to retrieve erased data
from DOS disks. Norton marketed the program (primarily on foot) through his one-man software publishing company, leaving behind little pamphlets with technical notes at users group meetings and computer stores. A publisher saw his pamphlets, and saw that he could write about a technical subject. The publisher called him and asked him if he wanted to write a book. Norton's first computer book, Inside the IBM PC: Access to Advanced Features & Programming (Techniques), was published in 1983. Eight editions of this best seller were published, the last in 1999. Norton wrote several other technical manuals and introductory computing books. He began writing monthly columns in 1982 for PC Magazine
and later PC Week
magazine as well, which he wrote until 1987. He soon became recognized as a principal authority on IBM personal computer technology.
In 1984, Norton Computing reached $1 million in revenue, and version 3.0 of the Norton Utilities was released. Norton had three clerical people working for him. He was doing all of the software development, all of the book writing, all of the manual writing and running the business. The only thing he wasn't doing was stuffing the packages. He hired his fourth employee and first programmer, Brad Kingsbury, in July 1985. In late 1985, Norton hired a business manager to take care of the day-to-day operations.
In 1985, Norton Computing produced the Norton Editor, a programmer's text editor
created by Stanley Reifel, and Norton Guides
, a TSR
program which showed reference information for assembly language
and other IBM PC internals, but could also display other reference information compiled into the appropriate file format. Norton Commander
, a file managing tool for DOS, was introduced in 1986.
In September 1983, Norton started work on The Peter Norton Programmer's Guide to the IBM PC. The book was a popular and comprehensive guide to low-level programming on the original PC platform (covering BIOS
and MS-DOS
system calls in great detail). The first (1985) edition was nicknamed "the pink shirt book", after the pink shirt that Norton wore for the cover photo, and Norton's crossed-arm pose on that cover is a U.S. registered trademark.
The second (1988) edition, renamed The New Peter Norton Programmer's Guide to the IBM PC & PS/2, again featured the crossed arms, pink shirt cover image. Richard Wilton co-authored the second edition. This was followed by the third (1993) edition of "the Norton book", renamed The Peter Norton PC Programmer's Bible, co-authored with Wilton and Peter Aitken. Later editions of Peter Norton's Inside the PC, a broad-brush introduction to personal computer technology, featured Norton in his crossed-arm pose on the cover, wearing a white shirt.
Norton Computing revenue rose to $5 million in 1986, $11 million in 1987, and $15 million in 1988. Its products won several utility awards, and it was ranked 136th on the 1988 Inc. magazine list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in America, with 38 employees. Norton himself was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Arthur Young & Co. (1988 High Technology Award Winner Greater Los Angeles Region) and Venture Magazine
.
On April 12, 1989, Norton appointed Ron Posner chief executive of Norton Computing. Norton continued as chairman. Posner's goal was to rapidly grow the company into a major software vendor. Soon after his arrival, Posner hired a new president, a new chief financial officer, and added a vice president of sales.
In March 1990, Norton Computing released the Norton Backup program dedicated to backing up and restoring hard disks. Norton Utilities for the Macintosh
was launched in July.
In August 1990, Norton sold his $25 million (1989 sales) Santa Monica, California
based company to Symantec for $70 million. Posner orchestrated the merger. Norton was given one third of Symantec's stock, worth about $60 million, and a seat on Symantec's board of directors. The acquired company became a division of Symantec and was renamed Peter Norton Computing Group. About one-third of Norton Computing's 115 employees were laid off after the merger. The Norton brand name lives on in such Symantec products as Norton AntiVirus
, Norton 360
, Norton Internet Security
, Norton Personal Firewall
, Norton SystemWorks
(which now contains a current version of the Norton Utilities
), Norton AntiBot
, Norton AntiSpam, Norton GoBack
(formerly Roxio
GoBack), Norton PartitionMagic
(formerly PowerQuest
PartitionMagic), and Norton Ghost. Norton's image was used on the packaging of all Norton-branded products until 2001.
In 2002, Acorn Technologies lured Norton out of a 10-year business hibernation. Norton has a "significant investment" in the company and serves as Chairman of Acorn's Board of Directors.
Norton is also chairman of eChinaCash, a company he founded in 2003. Posner is CEO.
, California. They had two children, and lived in the Los Angeles area. In the summer of 1990 they enjoyed a visit to Martha's Vineyard
and returned the following year with their children, purchasing an 1891, eight bedroom Queen Anne
house in Oak Bluffs
. They bought and lived in a nearby home while initiating redesign of the main house. "My children are half black, and we thought Oak Bluffs would give them an opportunity to summer around other kids like them," Norton said in a 2007 interview with Laura D. Roosevelt for Martha's Vineyard Magazine
.
In 2000, the couple divorced. Norton henceforth lived much of the time in New York. In February 2001, a fire caused by faulty wiring destroyed the Martha's Vineyard home, which had been restored in 1994 under the direction of the Cambridge and Nantucket architectural firm of Design Associates. Norton decided to have it rebuilt, again working with Design Associates on the reconstruction, to almost exactly as it was before the fire. Meanwhile, he began a relationship with New York financier Gwen Adams who, being an "Islander" in origin herself, also liked the area. Since then, the couple spend ten weeks of summer in the Corbin-Norton House annually, usually hosting several guests. They were married in a church in nearby Edgartown; the ceremony was performed on the island by their neighbor, author and scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
.
, Reed College
, Crossroads School (Santa Monica, California)
, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
With his first wife, Norton accumulated one of the largest modern contemporary art collections in the United States. Many of the pieces are on loan all over the world at any given time, and many were on view at Symantec Corporation. The foundation and the Norton Family Office are located in Santa Monica
. ARTnews
magazine regularly lists Norton among the world's top 200 collectors.
In 1999, Norton purchased letters written to Joyce Maynard
by reclusive author J.D. Salinger for US$156,500. (Salinger had a year-long affair with Maynard in 1972 when she was 18.) Maynard said she was forced to auction the letters for financial reasons. Norton announced that his intention was to return the letters to Salinger.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
programmer
Programmer
A programmer, computer programmer or coder is someone who writes computer software. The term computer programmer can refer to a specialist in one area of computer programming or to a generalist who writes code for many kinds of software. One who practices or professes a formal approach to...
, software publisher
Software publisher
A software publisher is a publishing company in the software industry between the developer and the distributor. In some companies, two or all three of these roles may be combined ....
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
. He is best known for the computer programs and books that bear his name. Norton sold his PC-Software business to Symantec Corporation in 1990.
Career
Norton was born in Aberdeen, WashingtonAberdeen, Washington
Aberdeen is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States, founded by Samuel Benn in 1884. Aberdeen was incorporated on May 12, 1890. The city is the economic center of Grays Harbor County, bordering the cities of Hoquiam and Cosmopolis...
and raised in Seattle. He attended Reed College
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, graduating in 1965. Before discovering microcomputer
Microcomputer
A microcomputer is a computer with a microprocessor as its central processing unit. They are physically small compared to mainframe and minicomputers...
s, he spent a dozen years working on mainframes
Mainframe computer
Mainframes are powerful computers used primarily by corporate and governmental organizations for critical applications, bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.The term originally referred to the...
and minicomputer
Minicomputer
A minicomputer is a class of multi-user computers that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems and the smallest single-user systems...
s for companies including Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
and Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
. His earliest low level system utilities
Utility software
Utility software is system software designed to help analyze, configure, optimize or maintain a computer. A single piece of utility software is usually called a utility or tool....
were designed to allow mainframe programmers access to some previous RAM
Random-access memory
Random access memory is a form of computer data storage. Today, it takes the form of integrated circuits that allow stored data to be accessed in any order with a worst case performance of constant time. Strictly speaking, modern types of DRAM are therefore not random access, as data is read in...
that IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
normally reserved for diagnostics. This foreshadowed his personal computer work, where he became known as a savvy author of low level system utilities and reference books.
When the IBM PC
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
made its debut in 1981, Norton was among the first to buy one. After he was laid off during an aerospace industry cutback, he took up microcomputer programming to make ends meet. One day he accidentally erased a file. Rather than re-enter the data, as most would have, he decided to write a program to recover the information from the disk. His friends were delighted with the program and he developed a group of utility programs that he sold—one at a time—to user groups. In 1982, he founded Peter Norton Computing
Peter Norton Computing
Peter Norton Computing, Inc., was a software company founded by Peter Norton. The first and most notable software package it produced is the Norton Utilities. Another very popular software was Norton Commander, especially the DOS version. In 1990, the company was acquired by Symantec. The...
with $30,000 and an IBM computer.
The company was a pioneer in DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
-based utilities software. Its 1982 introduction of the Norton Utilities
Norton Utilities
Norton Utilities is a utility software suite designed to help analyze, configure, optimize and maintain the computer. The current version 15 of Norton Utilities Premier Edition for Windows XP/Vista/7 was released December 27, 2010....
included Norton's popular UNERASE tool to retrieve erased data
Undeletion
Undeletion is a feature for restoring computer files which have been removed from a file system by file deletion. Deleted data can be recovered on many file systems, but not all file systems provide an undeletion feature. Recovering data without an undeletion facility is usually called data...
from DOS disks. Norton marketed the program (primarily on foot) through his one-man software publishing company, leaving behind little pamphlets with technical notes at users group meetings and computer stores. A publisher saw his pamphlets, and saw that he could write about a technical subject. The publisher called him and asked him if he wanted to write a book. Norton's first computer book, Inside the IBM PC: Access to Advanced Features & Programming (Techniques), was published in 1983. Eight editions of this best seller were published, the last in 1999. Norton wrote several other technical manuals and introductory computing books. He began writing monthly columns in 1982 for PC Magazine
PC Magazine
PC Magazine is a computer magazine published by Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009...
and later PC Week
EWeek
eWeek is a weekly computing business magazine published by Ziff Davis Enterprise.The magazine consists of a print publication and web site covering enterprise topics and is targeted at IT professionals rather than hobbyists.-Audience:The eWeek audience is actively involved in buying enterprise...
magazine as well, which he wrote until 1987. He soon became recognized as a principal authority on IBM personal computer technology.
In 1984, Norton Computing reached $1 million in revenue, and version 3.0 of the Norton Utilities was released. Norton had three clerical people working for him. He was doing all of the software development, all of the book writing, all of the manual writing and running the business. The only thing he wasn't doing was stuffing the packages. He hired his fourth employee and first programmer, Brad Kingsbury, in July 1985. In late 1985, Norton hired a business manager to take care of the day-to-day operations.
In 1985, Norton Computing produced the Norton Editor, a programmer's text editor
Text editor
A text editor is a type of program used for editing plain text files.Text editors are often provided with operating systems or software development packages, and can be used to change configuration files and programming language source code....
created by Stanley Reifel, and Norton Guides
Norton Guides
Norton Guides were a product family sold by Peter Norton Computing. The guides were written in 1985 by Warren Woodford for the x86 Assembly Language, C, BASIC, and Forth languages and made available to users via a TSR program that integrated with programming language editors on IBM PC type computers...
, a TSR
Terminate and Stay Resident
Terminate and Stay Resident is a computer system call in DOS computer operating systems that returns control to the system as if the program has quit, but keeps the program in memory...
program which showed reference information for assembly language
Assembly language
An assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...
and other IBM PC internals, but could also display other reference information compiled into the appropriate file format. Norton Commander
Norton Commander
Norton Commander was a prototypical orthodox file manager , written by John Socha and released by Peter Norton Computing . NC is a file manager which provides a text user interface on top of DOS. It was officially produced by Symantec between 1986 and 1998...
, a file managing tool for DOS, was introduced in 1986.
In September 1983, Norton started work on The Peter Norton Programmer's Guide to the IBM PC. The book was a popular and comprehensive guide to low-level programming on the original PC platform (covering BIOS
BIOS
In IBM PC compatible computers, the basic input/output system , also known as the System BIOS or ROM BIOS , is a de facto standard defining a firmware interface....
and MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
system calls in great detail). The first (1985) edition was nicknamed "the pink shirt book", after the pink shirt that Norton wore for the cover photo, and Norton's crossed-arm pose on that cover is a U.S. registered trademark.
Norton Computing revenue rose to $5 million in 1986, $11 million in 1987, and $15 million in 1988. Its products won several utility awards, and it was ranked 136th on the 1988 Inc. magazine list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in America, with 38 employees. Norton himself was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Arthur Young & Co. (1988 High Technology Award Winner Greater Los Angeles Region) and Venture Magazine
Venture Magazine
Venture magazine is a business management magazine. It focuses on business best practices. It is used by business leaders to learn from their colleagues'successes and challenges....
.
On April 12, 1989, Norton appointed Ron Posner chief executive of Norton Computing. Norton continued as chairman. Posner's goal was to rapidly grow the company into a major software vendor. Soon after his arrival, Posner hired a new president, a new chief financial officer, and added a vice president of sales.
In March 1990, Norton Computing released the Norton Backup program dedicated to backing up and restoring hard disks. Norton Utilities for the Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
was launched in July.
In August 1990, Norton sold his $25 million (1989 sales) Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
based company to Symantec for $70 million. Posner orchestrated the merger. Norton was given one third of Symantec's stock, worth about $60 million, and a seat on Symantec's board of directors. The acquired company became a division of Symantec and was renamed Peter Norton Computing Group. About one-third of Norton Computing's 115 employees were laid off after the merger. The Norton brand name lives on in such Symantec products as Norton AntiVirus
Norton AntiVirus
Norton AntiVirus, developed and distributed by Symantec Corporation, provides malware prevention and removal during a subscription period. It uses signatures and heuristics to identify viruses. Other features include e-mail spam filtering and phishing protection.Symantec distributes the product as...
, Norton 360
Norton 360
Norton 360, developed by Symantec, is marketed as an "all-in-one" computer security suite. The package includes an antivirus, a personal firewall, a phishing protection program and a backup program...
, Norton Internet Security
Norton Internet Security
Norton Internet Security, developed by Symantec Corporation, provides malware prevention and removal during subscription period and uses signatures and heuristics to identify viruses. Other features include a software firewall, e-mail spam filtering, and phishing protection.Symantec distributes...
, Norton Personal Firewall
Norton Personal Firewall
Norton Personal Firewall, developed by Symantec, is a discontinued personal firewall with ad blocking, program control and privacy protection capabilities....
, Norton SystemWorks
Norton SystemWorks
Norton SystemWorks is a discontinued system utility suite by Symantec. It expanded the tools found in Norton Utilities, and added other Symantec software titles, primarily anti-virus, and later backup software for the high-end versions.-Norton NT Tools:...
(which now contains a current version of the Norton Utilities
Norton Utilities
Norton Utilities is a utility software suite designed to help analyze, configure, optimize and maintain the computer. The current version 15 of Norton Utilities Premier Edition for Windows XP/Vista/7 was released December 27, 2010....
), Norton AntiBot
Norton AntiBot
Norton AntiBot, developed by Symantec, monitors applications for damaging behavior. The application was designed to prevent computers from being hijacked and controlled by hackers. According to Symantec, over 6 million computers have been hijacked, and the majority of users are unaware of their...
, Norton AntiSpam, Norton GoBack
GoBack
Norton GoBack is a Microsoft Windows based disk utility that can record up to 8 GB of disk changes. When the filesystem is idle for a few seconds, it marks these as "safe points". The product allows the disk drive to be reverted to any point within the available history...
(formerly Roxio
Roxio
Roxio is a division and brand of Sonic Solutions . Roxio branded products are sold online, through over 15,000 retail outlets, to organizations through volume license agreements and pre-loaded onto OEM PC's and devices...
GoBack), Norton PartitionMagic
PartitionMagic
PartitionMagic was a computer program for hard disk drive partitioning originally made by the PowerQuest corporation but now owned by Symantec. As of December 8, 2009, the Symantec website stated that they no longer offer Partition Magic. The program runs on Microsoft Windows operating systems...
(formerly PowerQuest
PowerQuest
PowerQuest was a software company that produced utility software. It was acquired by Symantec in 2003. PowerQuest's market focus was on management of computer data storage, especially file systems and disk partitions. Their products included PartitionMagic, ServerMagic, and Drive...
PartitionMagic), and Norton Ghost. Norton's image was used on the packaging of all Norton-branded products until 2001.
In 2002, Acorn Technologies lured Norton out of a 10-year business hibernation. Norton has a "significant investment" in the company and serves as Chairman of Acorn's Board of Directors.
Norton is also chairman of eChinaCash, a company he founded in 2003. Posner is CEO.
Personal life
In 1983 Norton married Eileen Harris, who grew up in WattsWatts, Los Angeles, California
Watts is a mostly residential neighborhood in South Los Angeles, California.-History:The area now known as Watts is located on the Rancho La Tajauta Mexican land grant...
, California. They had two children, and lived in the Los Angeles area. In the summer of 1990 they enjoyed a visit to Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, known for being an affluent summer colony....
and returned the following year with their children, purchasing an 1891, eight bedroom Queen Anne
Queen Anne Style architecture
The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...
house in Oak Bluffs
Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts
Oak Bluffs is a town located on Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,713 at the 2000 census and was estimated at 3,735 as of 2008...
. They bought and lived in a nearby home while initiating redesign of the main house. "My children are half black, and we thought Oak Bluffs would give them an opportunity to summer around other kids like them," Norton said in a 2007 interview with Laura D. Roosevelt for Martha's Vineyard Magazine
Martha's Vineyard Magazine
Martha's Vineyard Magazine is a regional magazine covering Martha’s Vineyard island and has been in publication since 1985.-About the magazine:...
.
In 2000, the couple divorced. Norton henceforth lived much of the time in New York. In February 2001, a fire caused by faulty wiring destroyed the Martha's Vineyard home, which had been restored in 1994 under the direction of the Cambridge and Nantucket architectural firm of Design Associates. Norton decided to have it rebuilt, again working with Design Associates on the reconstruction, to almost exactly as it was before the fire. Meanwhile, he began a relationship with New York financier Gwen Adams who, being an "Islander" in origin herself, also liked the area. Since then, the couple spend ten weeks of summer in the Corbin-Norton House annually, usually hosting several guests. They were married in a church in nearby Edgartown; the ceremony was performed on the island by their neighbor, author and scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Henry Louis “Skip” Gates, Jr., is an American literary critic, educator, scholar, writer, editor, and public intellectual. He was the first African American to receive the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship. He has received numerous honorary degrees and awards for his teaching, research, and...
.
Philanthropy
Peter and Eileen founded the Peter Norton Family Foundation in 1989, which gives financial support to visual and contemporary non-profit arts organizations, as well as human social services organizations. Norton also serves on the boards of the California Institute of the ArtsCalifornia Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, in Los Angeles County, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States created specifically for students of both the visual and the...
, Reed College
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
, Crossroads School (Santa Monica, California)
Crossroads School (Santa Monica, California)
Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences is a K-12 independent, college preparatory school in Santa Monica, California, United States. The school is a member of the G20 Schools Group.-History:...
, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
With his first wife, Norton accumulated one of the largest modern contemporary art collections in the United States. Many of the pieces are on loan all over the world at any given time, and many were on view at Symantec Corporation. The foundation and the Norton Family Office are located in Santa Monica
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
. ARTnews
ARTnews
ARTnews is an arts magazine based in New York, founded by James Clarence Hyde in 1902 as Hyde’s Weekly Art News. It is published 11 times a year.ARTnews covers all art, from ancient to Post-modernism...
magazine regularly lists Norton among the world's top 200 collectors.
In 1999, Norton purchased letters written to Joyce Maynard
Joyce Maynard
Daphne Joyce Maynard is an American author known for writing with candor about her life, as well as for her works of fiction and hundreds of essays and newspaper columns, often about parenting and family...
by reclusive author J.D. Salinger for US$156,500. (Salinger had a year-long affair with Maynard in 1972 when she was 18.) Maynard said she was forced to auction the letters for financial reasons. Norton announced that his intention was to return the letters to Salinger.