George Platt Brett Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
December 9, 1893 Darien, Connecticut |
| Died |
February 11, 1984 (aged 90) Southport, Connecticut |
| Spouse | Isabel Stevenson Yeomans |
| Children |
George Platt Brett III Bruce Yeomans Brett |
| Occupation | Publisher |
George Platt Brett Jr. (December 9, 1893 – February 11, 1984) served at Chairman of the American division of Macmillan Publishing and secured publishing rights to Gone With the Wind.[1]
Biography[]
Career[]
George Brett started with Macmillan in 1913 as a traveling salesman and took over as President of Macmillan in 1931. Brett took over as chairman in 1936 after the death of his father, George Platt Brett Sr.[2][3][4]
Brett is best known for having "scored one of publishing's all-time triumphs by gaining the rights to 'Gone With the Wind.'[1] The success of Gone with the Wind from 1935-1936 lead to bonuses of 18% to all employees at Macmillan. Additional literary success under Brett were Rachael Filed's All This and Heaven Too and Katleen Winsor's Forever Amber.[5] In addition, Brett published notable authors C. S. Lewis and Marianne Moore.[6]
In 1939, Brett promoted a special motion picture edition of Gone with the Wind at the same time the film was being released. Brett was the first to introduce marketing a book and movie at the same time. This was perhaps the earliest instance in the book publishing industry of the "tie-in," a marketing strategy which involves a mass media commodity appearing simultaneously in several formats that advertise each other.[7]
In 1944 Brett fought efforts by the British Publisher Bureau to corner the American market for British publishing houses.[8] In 1951, Brett bought the US division from London based Macmillan Publishing. At this time Macmillan was the second largest publisher in the United States[9]
Brett was succeeded by his son, Bruce Y. Brett in 1958.[6]
Military and Public Service[]
- From 1916 to 1919, he served with the United States Army on the Mexican border and then in France during World War I.
- Served as chairman of the book committee of the People to People Student Ambassador Program United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower established in 1956.
- Serve on missions for the United States State Department in Latin America and postwar Germany.[1]
Memberships[]
- Member of the Players Club[10]
Personal life[]
Brett was born in Darien, Connecticut and attended the Salisbury School in his home state and the Collegiate School in New York City. Brett was married to Isabel Stevenson Yeomans.[1][11] He died in 1984.[12]
See also[]
- George Edward Brett
- George Platt Brett Sr.
- Richard M. Brett
Bibliography[]
- "The role of books in inter-American relations" by George Platt Brett (Unknown Binding - 1943)
- The growth and care of cultivated evergreens: An address delivered before the Garden Club of Fairfield on May 26, 1931 (Unknown Binding)
Additional information[]
- Chronicles of Barabbas 1884–1934 By George H. Doran
- The House of Macmillan (1843–1943) by Charles Morgan
- The Structure of International Publishing in the 1990s By Fred Kobrak, Beth Luey
- New York Times article "Stefansson a Hero to British Public: George P. Brett back from London with a glowing account of the Young Explorers Success, printed on April 13, 1913
- New York Times March 13, 1913 article about Brett book "Book publishing and its present tendencies"
- New York Times article about Macmillan and George Brett
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Saxon, Wolfgang (February 15, 1984). "George P. Brett is dead at 91; Headed Macmillan Company". New York Times. http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F30A14F6395F0C768DDDAB0894DC484D81. Retrieved 2008-04-19.
- ↑ James, Elizabeth (2002). Macmillan A Publishing Tradition. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 187. ISBN 0-333-73517-X.
- ↑ "Macmillan, Inc. - Company Profile". http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/97/Macmillan-Inc.html. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
- ↑ Young 1995, p. 7
- ↑ McKitterick, David. A History of Cambridge University press Volume III: New Worlds for Learning 1873–1972. p. 308.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Kobrak, Fred. The Structure of International Publishing in the 1990s. p. 31.
- ↑ Young 1995, p. 8
- ↑ Ninkovich, Frank. The Diplomacy of Ideas: US Foreign Policy and Cultural Relations, 1938–1950. pp. 89–90.
- ↑ "PUBLISHING: Crofter's Crop". Time. January 22, 1951. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,888948,00.html?promoid=googlep. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
- ↑ Garland, Hamlin. Roadside Meetings. p. 397.
- ↑ "Many Betrothals in Early Autumn" (PDF). The New York Times. September 14, 1916. https://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9E05E2DA1F31E733A05757C1A96F9C946796D6CF. Retrieved 2010-03-30.
- ↑ Moritz, Charles, ed (1984). Current Biography Yearbook. New York: H. W. Wilson Company. p. 469. https://books.google.com/books?ei=ZAKyS5u4BsH_lgffnPyTBQ&ct=result&id=yvwZAAAAYAAJ&q=george+brett#search_anchor.
Sources[]
- Young, David (Fall 1995). "The Macmillan Company of Canada in the 1930s". Trent University. pp. 117–33. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3683/is_199510/ai_n8731586/..
The original article can be found at George Platt Brett and the edit history here.