| James Laughlin |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT JAMES LAUGHLIN | |
| 1914 births | |
| laughlin, james | |
| 1997 deaths | |
| american book publishers people | |
| american poets | |
| irish-american writers | |
| writers from pittsburgh | |
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James Laughlin ( October 30 , 1914 - November 12 , 1997 ) was an American poet, publisher, and man of letters. He is most notable for founding the publishing company New Directions Publishing . Laughlin was born in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , the son of Henry Hughart and Marjory Rea Laughlin. Laughlin's family had made its fortune with the Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation, founded a generation earlier by his grandfather, and this wealth would partially fund Laughlin's future endeavors in publishing. While a student at Harvard University , he took a leave of absence and traveled to France , where he met Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas . He soon traveled to Italy to meet and study with Ezra Pound , who famously told him, "You're never going to be any good as a poet. Why don't you take up something useful?" Pound suggested publishing, and when Laughlin returned to Harvard, he used money from his father to found New Directions Publishing. The first book printed by the new press was ''New Directions in Prose & Poetry'', an anthology of poetry and writings by authors such as William Carlos Williams , Ezra Pound , Elizabeth Bishop , Henry Miller , Marianne Moore , Wallace Stevens , and E.E. Cummings , a roster that heralded the fledgling company's future as a preeminent publisher of Modernist literature. Laughlin won the 1992 Distinguished Contribution To American Letters Award from the National Book Award s Program. He died of complications related to a stroke in Norfolk, Connecticut , at age 83. Laughlin's works include:
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