Larry Kirshbaum | |
---|---|
Born | 1944 (age 79–80) |
Alma mater | University of Michigan |
Occupation | Book publisher |
Known for | Chief of publishing at Amazon.com |
Spouse | Barbara Feder |
Children | 2 |
Laurence "Larry" Kirshbaum is the former chief of publishing for Amazon Publishing.
Born to a Jewish family in Chicago in 1944 and raised in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. [1] In 1966, Kirshbaum graduated with a B.A. from the University of Michigan. [2] After school, he worked for Newsweek. [1] [2] In 1970, he co-wrote a book with Roger Rapoport about student protests, Is the Library Burning? [1] [2] In 1970, he accepted a job as a salesman for Random House selling to drugstores, small groceries, and gift shops. [2] In 1974, he went to work for Warner Books where he became a publisher in 1985, working with Jack Welch and Michael Eisner on their memoirs. [2] He then became CEO of the Time Warner Book Group. [3] [4] In 2005, he left Time Warner to found his own literary agency. [2] In 2011, he went to work as the chief of publishing for Amazon Publishing; [5] [3] which was striving to build its own publishing business. He signed numerous authors including actress and director Penny Marshall and best-selling writer Timothy Ferris. [6] In 2012, his efforts were crushed after bookseller Barnes & Noble stated that it would not sell books published by Amazon in its stores. [6] In October 2013, it was announced that he was leaving Amazon and will be replaced by Daphne Durham. [6]
He is married to the former Barbara Feder of Highland Park, Illinois; they have two children. [1]
In 2013, he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman. [7] Catherine Redlich, Kirshbaum's attorney, stated that the incident was a "consensual relationship from a decade ago which turned sour". [8] [9]