Judith Regan
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Judith Regan (born 17 August 1953 in Massachusetts) is an American editor and book publisher.
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[edit] Personal life
Regan grew up on Long Island, and graduated from Bay Shore High School in 1971.[1] She then attended Vassar College, receiving her A.B. degree in 1975. Then In 1978, while working as a secretary at Harvard, Regan answered a newspaper ad for a reporter for The National Enquirer and got the job. In the early 1980s, Regan relocated to New York City.
Regan has been at the center of many controversies. Her in-your-face personality keeps her a favorite of NYC gossip columnists.
[edit] Book consultant and publisher
In 1987, Regan approached Simon & Schuster with an idea for a book, a study of the average American family, with Ozzie and Harriet as its centerpiece. The editor at Pocket Books didn't want the book, but hired Regan to work for the company as a consultant. She soon had a string of successes: Drew Barrymore's Little Girl Lost, Kathie Lee Gifford's I Can't Believe I Said That!, and celebrity autobiographies such as those of Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern.
In 1994 News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch gave Regan her own subdivision at HarperCollins called ReganBooks. She later had a show on News Corp's Fox News Channel called Judith Regan Tonight, which is no longer on the air.
[edit] O.J. Simpson book
In 2006, Regan announced that she would publish O.J. Simpson's book, If I Did It, issuing an eight-page defense of the deal in which she claimed to be a battered wife and claimed that she felt the "spirit" of the victims in the room with her as she spoke to Simpson.[2] MSNBC reported on her decision to publish If I Did It:
She did it to help victims of violence. As a young woman, she wrote, she was abused by a boyfriend and believes Simpson's confession to the murders—even hypothetically—will heal the wounds of victims everywhere. (The former boyfriend denied the abuse allegations.) "I made the decision to publish this book, and to sit face to face with the killer", Regan said, "because I wanted him, and the men who broke my heart and your hearts, to tell the truth, to confess their sins, to do penance and to amend their lives. Amen."[3]
After harsh criticism, on 20 November 2006, News Corporation announced that it was canceling its publication and an interview with Simpson that was to air on the FOX Network.[4][5]
[edit] Mickey Mantle book
On December 14, 2006, the New York Daily News reported that ReganBooks would publish a "fictional biography" of New York Yankees legend Mickey Mantle titled 7: The Mickey Mantle Novel written by sportswriter Peter Golenbeck, who had previously written The Bronx Zoo with Yankee relief pitcher Sparky Lyle.
The book has sparked controversy resulting from the fact that, by Golenbeck's own admission, it describes events that are not verifiable (such as Mantle having an affair with Marilyn Monroe while she was dating Joe DiMaggio), and conversations that Golenbeck imagines having with the late Yankees slugger. The Mantle family has strongly objected to the book, while former teammate Whitey Ford dismisses the notion of Mantle being intimate with Monroe as "the stupidest thing" he had ever heard. However, former teammate Jim Bouton told Golenbeck "that he had Mickey's voice down pretty well." And while not defending the book, Syracuse University journalism professor and pop culture expert Bob Thompson said what Golenbeck has done "has a long literary tradition".[6]
[edit] Firing from HarperCollins
On December 15, 2006 Regan was fired from HarperCollins, allegedly over anti-Semitic comments that she might have made,[7] and the staff at ReganBooks reassigned within the HarperCollins General Book Group.[8] The New York Times reported that, "a stunned Ms. Regan was confronted by security guards who arrived with boxes and ordered her to leave."[7]
A transcript of Regan's telephone conversation with a HarperCollins lawyer, Mark Jackson, based on Jackson's handwritten notes, stated that among the reported anti-Semitic comments that resulted in her dismissal was “Of all people, the Jews should know about ganging up, finding common enemies and telling the big lie." She also reportedly said that "a Jewish cabal" was working against her at the company.[9] Her lawyer, Bert Fields, who is Jewish, denies she said "Jewish cabal" although he did say she used "cabal". Andrew Butcher, a spokesman for Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., said the remarks were made during a conversation between Regan and HarperCollins lawyer Mark Jackson. He said Regan was referring to Jackson, CEO Jane Friedman, Executive Editor David Hirshey and longtime literary agent Esther Newberg with her statement.[10]
Additionally, in a December 22 article Fields reports that a new witness has come forward backing Regan's claim. Carmen del Toro, who worked as Regan’s temporary assistant for one week, heard the conversation and also recounts the use of the word cabal, but agrees that the word Jewish was not used. In response Butch said, “We stand by Mark Jackson’s memory and his detailed notes.”[11]
[edit] References
- ^ Hall Of Fame 2003. Bay Shore High School Alumni Association, Inc. Retrieved on 2006-11-20.
- ^ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,230280,00.html
- ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15791226/site/newsweek/
- ^ Fox News
- ^ Roberts, Johnnie (December 2006). "Publishing: No More Free Rein For Regan". Newsweek. Retrieved on 2006-10-29.
- ^ http://nydailynews.com/front/story/480022p-403822c.html/
- ^ a b "Fired Editor’s Remarks Said to Have Provoked Murdoch", New York Times, December 18, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-12-18.
- ^ Wyatt, Edward. "Judith Regan Is Fired After O. J. Simpson Book", New York Times, December 15, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-12-16.
- ^ Sharon Waxman and Richard Siklos, "News Corp. Describes Fired Editor's Remarks", The New York Times, 18 December 2006
- ^ http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/12/19/175022.shtml?s=al&promo_code=2B36-1
- ^ [1]
