M. Lincoln Schuster

Max Lincoln Schuster (born Max Schuster) ( ; March 2, 1897 – December 20, 1970) was an American book publisher and the co-founder of the publishing company Simon & Schuster. Schuster was instrumental in the creation of Pocket Books, and the mass paperback industry, along with Richard L. Simon, Robert F. DeGraff and Leon Shimkin. on March 2, 1897, in Kałusz, then Austria-Hungary, today Ukraine. His parents, Barnet and Esther Stieglitz Schuster, were American citizens and brought Schuster to America at age six weeks. and received a degree in 1917.

Early career Schuster's first job in publishing was as a copy boy for the New York Evening World in 1913. with a print run of 3,600 copies.

Schuster's style impacted both the style and look for Simon & Schuster. Schuster's prose, Korda wrote, "was unmistakable and over the years became the S&S house style, a heady, oracular mash of superlatives, puns, and one-liners that most people at S&S could write by the yard but that only Max actually spoke." Korda also described how Schuster, "understood, as very few people in publishing have, the power of simple ideas. Nobody was better at inventing books that filled a need, or at describing them with the kind of enthusiasm that sold them in quantity, or at breaking down the reasons for buying them into one-line sentences." Schuster showcased his prose by writing (with Simon) an advertising column called the Inner Sanctum. Schuster also chose Jean-François Millet's the Sower to be the logo for Simon & Schuster as a representation of disseminating knowledge.

Schuster was described by Al Silverman as someone who wore thick glasses, severe clothes and "tended to be uncomfortable in the presence of the other people."

In 1966, Schuster retired and sold his interest in Simon & Schuster to Leon Shimkin for around $2 million. As part of an agreement, Schuster was excluded from publishing for two years. At the end of the two years, Schuster formed an editorial partnership with his wife, Ray Schuster, but he died within four years of retirement.

Personal life Schuster was married to Ray Haskell who had three daughters from a previous marriage. He died on December 20, 1970 at his home in New York City. Services were held at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan.

Notable books published

Awards Columbia School of Journalism, 50th anniversary medallion (1962)

Clubs and memberships