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A chronicle of the life of Judith Jones who became an editor at Knopf for some truly impressive authors. What an interesting life and person!

One of my favorite sections of the book describes her early career as an assistant to an editor for Doubleday while she lived in Paris. Manuscripts and ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies) had been submitted. Judith was asked to work on the polite pass letters for the "slush" pile. It was 1950.

"Judith sighed and began to flip aimlessly through the heap. She stopped when she came to a book with a photography of a young girl on its cover. The image was striking...It had been submitted to Doubleday to be considered for translation and publication in English. Judith was intrigued. Price wouldn't be back for hours. Judith knew she had time. She gathered the book into her arms, carried it over to the armchair by the fire, tucked her feet under her, and began to read."

The book was "The Diary of Anne Frank." "On March 28, 1944, the girl listened as Gerrit Bolkestein, Dutch minister of education, arts and sciences, came on air on Radio Orange, the London-based broadcast service of the Dutch government-in-exile. When the war was over, Bolkestein announced, the government planned to collect, edit, and publish 'all historical materials relating to these years,' If the Jewish people didn't tell the story of the war themselves, someone else would later do it for them. 'History cannot be written solely on the basis of official records and archives. If posterity is to fully understand what we as a people have endured and overcome in these years, we must collect an enormous amount of material relating to daily life. Only then can this struggle for freedom be depicted in its full depth.' He called upon listeners to contribute. The girl began to revise her diary, imagining it might one day be published."

"That afternoon, Judith read and read, immersed in Frank's world. When she heard the key turning in the apartment door's lock late that afternoon, she jumped. Judith rose from her chair, discombobulated and stiff. With Frank's book still clutched in her hands, she told Price he should send it to Doubleday's headquarters in New York.
'We have to publish this book,' she said.
Price, who'd been surprised to find Judith still at work so late, asked incredulously, 'What, that book by the kid?' "

"On June 12, 1952, Anne's birthday, Doubleday published 'Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.' "

This small portion of Judith Jones life story really highlighted for me the pivotal roles some people play in American literature. History seems more recent and the relevance of relaying and condemning the darkest portions of world history is emphasized as critically necessary to understand the need to maintain human rights. I can't imagine growing up without this book as part of our educational curriculum in the United States. And, now we are fighting book censorships. How is this possible?

This is only a small portion of Judith Jones' remarkable life. What originally brought me to read this book, was when I found out that she was Anne Tyler's editor & friend. Anne Tyler is one of my favorite authors.