Charles Angoff

Charles Angoff (April 22, 1902 – May 3, 1979) was a managing editor of the American Mercury magazine as well as a professor of English of Fairleigh Dickinson University. H. L. Mencken called him "the best managing editor in America." He was also a prolific writer and editor.

Career

Background Angoff was born on April 22, 1902, in Minsk, Russia Empire. His father was a tailor named John Jacob Angoff; his mother was named Anna Pollack. In 1908, the Angoffs left Russia and settled near Boston, Massachusetts. By age 12, he began writing poetry. He became a naturalized citizen in 1923. and again in 1969 for Memory of Autumn.

Communist leanings According to Whittaker Chambers in his 1952 memoir, Angoff worked closely with him, Maxim Lieber, and John Loomis Sherman after they formed the American Feature Writers Syndicate, a front for communist underground agents as overseas cover. Chambers wrote: Among Lieber's friends was an editor of the American Mercury (not Eugene Lyons, who was still a U .P. correspondent in Moscow) . He gladly furnished a letter telling all whom it might concern that Charles F. Chase was a news gatherer for the Mercury. During testimony, members of HUAC identified Angoff as the Mercury person by asking: Of John Sherman - "Did you attend a luncheon with Maxim Lieber, Charles Angoff, and Whittaker Chambers in which you discussed these credentials and the purpose of them?" Of Maxim Lieber - "Did you attend a luncheon with Charles Angoff and Whittaker Chambers at which you discussed the matter of obtaining credentials for Sherman?"

Personal life

Angoff married Sara Freedman in June 1943. They had a daughter, Nancy Angoff.

He died on May 3, 1979, aged 77, survived by his wife and daughter. Regarding his editing of the writings of Nathan, Time wrote, "Mercury associate, Charles Angoff, has reached back over 34 years, dusted off Nathan's personal Five-Foot Shelf of writings (some 39 books) and pieced together a Nathan sampler. Sipped, The World of George Jean Nathan is a delight; swallowed, it leaves a faintly rusty taste on the palate, like water too long in the taps. With malice toward some, Nathan has his say on every subject under his sun."

The following books appear in the Library of Congress.

Books American Spectator Real Aims of Catholicism (1928) Literary History of the American People (1931) World Over In... (1938) Palestrina, Savior of Church Music, illustrated by William Brady (1944) Adventures in Heaven (1945, 1970) Handbook of Libel: A Practical Guide for Editors and Authors (1946, 1966) Fathers of Classical Music, illustrated by La Verne Reiss (1947, 1969) When I was a Boy in Boston, illustrated by Samuel Gilbert (1947, 1970) Journey to the Dawn (1951) In the Morning Light (1953) Sun at Noon (1955) H. L. Mencken, A Portrait from Memory (1956) Something About My Father, and Other People (1956) Between Day and Dark (1959) Bitter Spring (1961) Summer Storm (1963) Tone of the Twenties, and Other Essays (1966) Bell of Time: A Book of Poems, foreword by Joseph Joel Keith (1967) Memoranda for tomorrow; a book of poems (1968) Memory of Autumn (1968) Stories from the Literary Review (1969) Winter Twilight (1970) Prayers at Midnight: A Book of Prose Poems (1971) Season of mists (1971) Mid-Century (1973) Emma Lazarus, Poet, Jewish Activist, Pioneer Zionist (1979) Toward the Horizon (1980)

Edited works Arsenal for Skeptics, edited by Richard W. Hinton (pseudonym) (1934) Stradivari, the Violin-Maker, by Helen Tinyanova (1938) Theatre Book of the Year, by George Jean Nathan (1943) American Mercury Reader: A Selection of Distinguished Articles, Stories, and Poems Published in the American Mercury during the Past Twenty Years, edited by Lawrence Spivak and Charles Angoff (1944, 1979) Five Minute Classics, by Julius Washington (1945) Modern Stories from Many Lands: [The Literary Review Book], selected and edited by Clarence R. Decker [and] Charles Angoff (1963, 1972) Humanities in the Age of Science: In Honor of Peter Sammartino, edited by Charles Angoff (1968) African Writing Today: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Zambia, selected and edited by Charles Angoff [and] John Povey (1969) George Sterling: A Centenary Memoir-Anthology, edited by Charles Angoff (1969) Rise of American Jewish literature: An Anthology of Selections from the Major Novels, edited by Charles Angoff and Meyer Levin (1970) Diamond Anthology, edited by Charles Angoff [and others], foreword by Charles Angoff (1971) Papers and Discussions by Conrad Cherry [and Others], edited by Charles Angoff (1974) William Carlos Williams: Papers by Kenneth Burke [and Others], edited by Charles Angoff (1974) Science and the Human Imagination: Albert Einstein: Papers and Discussions, by Jeremy Bernstein and Gerald Feinberg (1978) Biology and the Future of Man: Papers, by Nathan Hershey, Merril Eisenbud, edited by Charles Angoff (1978) World of George Jean Nathan: Essays, Reviews & Commentary, edited by Charles S. Angoff; epilogue by Patricia Angelin (1998)

Books in Angoff's honor Old Century and the New: Essays in Honor of Charles Angoff, edited by Alfred Rosa (1978) Man from the Mercury: A Charles Angoff Memorial Reader, edited, with an introduction by Thomas Yoseloff (1986)