Stuart, Lyle

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Lyle Stuart was born Lionel Simon in New York City on August 11, 1922. After dropping out of high school he joined the Merchant Marine, later serving with the Air Transport Command of the Air Force during World War II. During the war he officially changed his name to Lyle Stuart, partially due to antisemitism he encountered in the service. After the war, he began working as a journalist, first for the International News Service in Columbus, Ohio (where he met and married Mary Louise Strawn), and later for assorted trade publications in New York City, including Ready to Wear Scout, Music Business, and Variety . He also wrote radio scripts for the State Department and published short stories and a novel.

In 1951, Stuart and his wife founded Exposé, a monthly tabloid. In its early years, Exposé published investigative articles about Franco's Spain and Jim Crow Laws, as well as fiction and essays by Norman Mailer, Ferdinand Lundberg, George Seldes, and others. In later years, Exposé (now retitled The Independent ) became more of a personal newsletter by and about Lyle Stuart. After Mary Louise's death from cancer in 1969, Stuart temporarily ceased publication, resuming on a bimonthly schedule in 1971 before finally shuttering The Independent in 1973. One of Exposé 's early articles, a 1951 takedown of columnist Walter Winchell, led to a libel suit and a $8000 award for the Stuarts. The award allowed Stuart and Mary Louise to found their first publishing company, Lyle Stuart, Incorporated.

The first book published by Lyle Stuart, Inc., was The Pulse Test (1956), a book on experimental medicine. Stuart focused on controversial and scandalous nonfiction, publishing Fidel Castro, sex manuals, conspiracy manifestos and exposés, sensationalist unauthorized biographies (including Kitty Kelley's first book), and (perhaps most famously) The Anarchist Cookbook (1971). While Stuart sold his company to the now-defunct Carol Publishing Group in 1989, he quickly resumed his career as publisher, founding Barricade Books with his second wife Carole. Barricade features similar titles, including reprinting The Anarchist Cookbook and the equally controversial The Turner Diaries (1996).

Stuart was an expansive personality, and a fierce friend and fiercer enemy - often to the same individual. He was a passionate gambler, writing two books on the subject and publishing many more, and was generous with both loans and lawsuits. He died in his home in Fort Lee, New Jersey, on June 24, 2006.

Sources:

Schudel, Matt. "Controversial Publisher Lyle Stuart." Washington Post, June 26, 2006.

Stuart, Lyle. "The Outrageous Lyle." The Independent, December 1971.

From the guide to the Lyle Stuart Papers, 1926-2010, [Bulk Dates: 1949-2003], (Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Lyle Stuart Papers, 1926-2010, [Bulk Dates: 1949-2003] Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn Gore Vidal papers, 1850-2020 (inclusive), 1936-2008 (bulk) Houghton Library
referencedIn White mss., 1932-1969 Lilly Library (Indiana University, Bloomington)
referencedIn Philip Agee Papers, Bulk, 1965-2000, 1948-2007 Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
referencedIn Albert Ellis Papers, 1920-2007, [Bulk Dates: 1965-1997]. Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn Caesar, Irving, 1895-1996. Papers, 1905-1972. Wisconsin Historical Society, Newspaper Project
referencedIn J. B. Matthews Papers, 1862-1986 and undated David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Agee, Philip. person
associatedWith Allen, Steve, 1921-2000 person
associatedWith Blue Moon Books corporateBody
associatedWith Boucher, Anthony, 1911-1968 person
associatedWith Brown, David, 1916-2010 person
associatedWith Brown, Helen Gurley person
associatedWith Caesar, Irving, 1895-1996. person
associatedWith Cargill, Morris person
associatedWith Chu, Louis, 1915- person
associatedWith Corwin, Norman, 1910-2011 person
associatedWith Dalí, Salvador, 1904-1989 person
associatedWith EC Comics corporateBody
associatedWith Edwards, Frank, 1908-1967 person
associatedWith Ellis, Albert, 1913-2007 person
associatedWith Fowler, Will, 1922- person
associatedWith Gaines, William M. person
associatedWith Gibson, Richard, 1931- person
associatedWith Goldstein, Al person
associatedWith Krassner, Paul person
associatedWith Lamb, Edward person
associatedWith Levy, Arnold Bruce person
associatedWith Lundberg, Ferdinand, 1902- person
associatedWith Manning, Dick person
associatedWith Matthews, J. B. (Joseph Brown), 1894-1966 person
associatedWith Poulson, Norris, 1895-1982 person
associatedWith Price, Roger person
associatedWith Renay, Liz person
associatedWith Robeson, Paul, 1898-1976 person
associatedWith Robins, Arthur person
associatedWith Rosset, Barney person
associatedWith Schwartz, Allen G. (Allen George), 1934- person
associatedWith Seldes, George, 1890-1995 person
correspondedWith Vidal, Gore, 1925- person
associatedWith Winchell, Walter, 1897-1972 person
associatedWith Wright, Bruce, 1918- person
associatedWith Wynn, Steve person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Cuba
Subject
Publishers and publishing
Advertising
Book proposals
Gambling
Libel and slander
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1922-08-11

Death 2006-06-24

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