James atlas the end of biography

American writer, editor, and publisher (–)

James Robert Atlas (March 22, – September 4, ) was a writer, especially of biographies, as well as a publisher.^[1] He was the president of Atlas & Company and founding editor of the Penguin Lives Series.^[2]

Early life and education

Atlas was born in Evanston, Illinois, to Donald and Nora (Glassenberg) Atlas.

His father was a physician and his mother was a homemaker. Atlas graduated in from high school in Evanston, during the turmoil of the s.^[1]

He studied at Harvard under Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop with the intention of becoming a poet.

He went to Oxford and studied under the biographer Richard Ellmann, as a Rhodes Scholar. During his time at Oxford he was inspired to become a biographer.^[1]

Career

Atlas was a contributor to The New Yorker, and he was an editor at The New York Times Magazine for many years.^[3] He edited volumes of poetry and wrote