Robert Emmett Ginna Jr

Robert Emmett Ginna Jr. (b. 1925) is a retired magazine reporter and editor, a film producer and screenwriter, and a Harvard faculty member. He co-founded People magazine, served as its first editor, and later was Editor-in-Chief of Little Brown.

## Early life

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Ginna was born to Robert Emmett Ginna, a Rochester Gas and Electric executive, and his wife, the former Margaret McCall, both descended from Irish immigrants.[1][2][3] Ginna and his father were named for Robert Emmett, an Irish revolutionary who was executed by British authorities in 1803.[3] After an admission to Harvard College, Ginna enlisted in the Navy at age 17, serving in the Pacific during World War Two.[3] He graduated from the University of Rochester in 1948,[4] and went on to get a Master's in Art History from Harvard University.[3]

## Career

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In his early career, Ginna worked as a reporter and editor for Horizon, Life, and Scientific American.[2] His article "Have We Visitors From Space?" appeared in the April 7, 1952 edition of Life magazine.[5] In 1955, Ginna interviewed Sean O'Casey for NBC television; A decade later, Ginna would produce a film about O'Casey.[6][7] In 1960, Ginna interviewed filmmaker Stanley Kubrick for Horizon.[8][9]

In February 1962, Ginnna authored "Life in the Afternoon", an essay about meeting Ernest Hemingway in 1958 Cuba.[10][11]

During the 1960s, Ginna was a screeenwriter and film producer. Ginna worked with famous filmmaker John Ford on the film Young Cassidy, but Ford had to be replaced mid-shoot.[12][13]

In 1974, Ginna co-founded People magazine and served as its first Editor-in-Chief.[14] From 1977 to 1980, Ginna was the Editor-in-Chief of Little Brown Publishing ; In that role, he was influential in writer James Salter's switch from screenplays to novels.[15]

From 1988 to 2002, Ginna served on the faculty of Harvard University, teaching writing and filmmaking. In 2003, Ginna authored The Irish Way: A Walk Through Ireland's Past and Present.[16][17]

In 2006, Ginna was profiled for his role in creating an academic press at New England College.[18]

## Selected works

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* "Our Man from New York Observes Carol Reed Directing 'Our Man in Havana' " Horizon , Nov. 1959
* "Life in the afternoon : Ernest Hemingway, some quiet conversations regarding fishing, writing, war, bars, wine, hunting, and so on" (1962) Esquire Magazine[19]
* FDR (1963) with Roger Butterfield and Robert D. Graff
* "Talking to Sean O’Casey on American Television" (1974)
* "In Search of 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'" (2002)[20][21]
* The Irish Way: A Walk Through Ireland's Past and Present (2003)[17]

## Filmography

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### Producer

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* Brotherly Love (1970)[22]
* Before Winter Comes (1969) [23]
* Young Cassidy (1965)
* The Flood (1962)

### Screenplays

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* The Last Challenge (1967) [24]
* World Wide '60 (1960)

## Personal life

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Ginna married Margaret Williams; The pair had two children. She died in 2004.[25] In 2017, their son dedicated his book What Editors Do to his parents.[26] After his wife's death, Ginna was the companion of journalist Gail Sheehy, who died in 2020 at the age of 83.[27]

## References

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1. ^ Salpukas, Agis (May 26, 2015). "Robert Ginna, 94, a Champion of Nuclear Power - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2015-05-26.
2. ^ a b Keppen, Julie (October 4, 2004). Contemporary Authors. Cengage Gale. ISBN 978-0-7876-6706-1 - via Google Books.
3. ^ a b c d "Rochester • University of Rochester". www.rochester.edu.
4. ^ http://www.lib.rochester.edu/IN/RBSCP/University-History/ATTACHMENTS/Commencement/1948.pdf
5. ^ Bullard, Thomas E. (October 17, 2016). The Myth and Mystery of UFOs. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-2338-9 - via Google Books.
6. ^ O'Casey, Sean (1974). The Sting and the Twinkle: Conversations with Sean O'Casey. Barnes & Noble Books. ISBN 978-0-06-494818-0.
7. ^ Nelson, James (February 4, 1958). "Wisdom: Conversations with the Elder Wise Men of Our Day". Norton - via Google Books.
8. ^ Duncan, Paul (February 4, 2003). Stanley Kubrick: Visual Poet, 1928-1999. Taschen. ISBN 978-3-8228-1592-2 - via Google Books.
9. ^ "Stanley Kubrick speaks for himself". EW.com.
10. ^ Canada, Mark (April 3, 2013). Literature and Journalism: Inspirations, Intersections, and Inventions from Ben Franklin to Stephen Colbert. Springer. ISBN 978-1-137-32930-1 - via Google Books.
11. ^ Buchholtz, Mirosława; Guttfeld, Dorota (July 21, 2022). Ernest Hemingway in Interview and Translation. Springer Nature. ISBN 978-3-031-07230-7 - via Google Books.
12. ^ McBride, Joseph (February 11, 2011). Searching for John Ford. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-4968-0056-5 - via Google Books.
13. ^ Grant, Barry Keith (February 4, 2003). John Ford's Stagecoach. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-79743-6 - via Google Books.
14. ^ Salter, James (November 1, 2017). Don't Save Anything: Uncollected Essays, Articles, and Profiles. Catapult. ISBN 978-1-64009-001-9 - via Google Books.
15. ^ Levasseur, Jennifer; Rabalais, Kevin (November 23, 2015). Conversations with James Salter. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-4968-0358-0 - via Google Books.
16. ^ "Robert Emmett Ginna". October 2, 2015.
17. ^ a b Ginna, Robert Emmett (February 4, 2003). "The Irish Way: A Walk Through Ireland's Past and Present". Random House - via Google Books.
18. ^ "Concord Monitor 16 Apr 2006, page 39". Newspapers.com.
19. ^ "Esquire". 1962 - via books.google.com.
20. ^ GINNA, ROBERT EMMETT (2002). "In Search of "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre"". The American Scholar. 71 (4): 75–89. JSTOR 41213368 - via JSTOR.
21. ^ https://books.google.com/books?id=jgsEAAAAYAA
22. ^ Reid, John Howard (March 2006). America's Best, Britain's Finest. Lulu.com. ISBN 978-1-4116-7877-4 - via books.google.com.
23. ^ Chibnall, Steve (15 June 2021). J. Lee Thompson. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-1-5261-6286-1.
24. ^ Pitts, Michael R. (4 January 2013). Western Movies. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6372-5 - via books.google.com.
25. ^ "Deaths GINNA, MARGARET WILLIAMS - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. May 16, 2004. Archived from the original on 2015-05-28.
26. ^ Ginna, Peter (October 6, 2017). What Editors Do: The Art, Craft, and Business of Book Editing. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-29997-6 - via Google Books.
27. ^ Seelye, Katharine Q. (August 25, 2020). "Gail Sheehy, Journalist, Author and Social Observer, Dies at 83". The New York Times - via NYTimes.com.

## External links

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* Ginna's collection of James Salter material at the Harry Ransom Center