Clay Felker papers, 1945-1996

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Summary

Creator:
Felker, Clay
Abstract:
Clay Felker (1925-2008) was an editor and publisher who edited magazines such as New York Magazine (which he founded in 1968), New West Magazine, Village Voice, and Esquire. Collection includes materials from Felker's journalism career, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1968 through 1981. The majority of the materials relate to Felker's publishing and editorial work on New York Magazine, New West Magazine, Village Voice, Esquire, and Daily News Tonight. Included are story ideas and correspondence with various writers and editors; drafts of articles and columns; contract and legal negotiations; correspondence from Felker's fans and friends; budgetary materials; press clippings and news coverage; and other miscellaneous materials. Also includes copies of Duke University Chronicle, 1948-1952, dating from Felker's years as a writer and editor; copies of The Blue Jacket, 1944-1945, dating from Felker's years as a sports editor; some personal correspondence and materials from Felker's friends and family; and some other miscellaneous material.
Extent:
14 Linear Feet
9000 Items
Language:
Material in English
Collection ID:
RL.00386

Background

Scope and content:

Collection includes materials from Felker's journalism career, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1968 through 1981. The majority of the materials relate to Felker's publishing and editorial work on New York magazine, New West magazine, Village Voice, Esquire, and Daily News Tonight. The collection contains the publications' annual reports, financial projections and budgets, circulation and advertising plans, and materials from stockholder questionnaires and meetings. Also included are story ideas and correspondence with various writers and editors, as well as drafts of articles and columns. Many materials are anonymous and undated, because the author's name is missing from Felker's version of the draft. Some writers and journalists represented in the collection include George Dennison, Benjamin Sonnenberg, Gail Sheehy (Felker's third wife), Aaron Latham, Robert Karen, Thomas Thompson, Arnold Beichman, Jimmy Breslin, Jane O'Reilly, Andrew Tobias, and many more.

Other magazine-related materials include contract and legal negotiations, particularly regarding Felker's launch of New York; his loss of New York and Village Voice; his acquisition of Esquire, The Advertiser, and AdWeek; and his subsequent loss of Esquire. Correspondence between Felker and various law firms involved in these sales and mergers is also included. There are also many letters, both congratulatory and condoling, reacting to his various career changes. Many of his friends and fans were powerful figures in the publishing world, including George Lang, Marianne Partridge, Peter Derow, Felix Rohatyn, Tom Wolfe, Gloria Steinem, Herb Goro, and Malcolm Forbes.

Press clippings covering Felker's career are also present in the collection, beginning with his early journalism career in the 1960s, but heavily covering his various publication acquisitions and activities as editor of New York, New West, Village Voice, Esquire, and The Daily News Tonight. Besides reporting on the acquisitions, these clippings also include profiles of Felker as well as evaluations and criticisms of his work. One subcomponent of the clippings includes coverage of the 1976 CIA press leak by Daniel Schorr to the Village Voice and the subsequent Congressional investigations.

The collection also includes files and materials from Felker's years as a producer at 20th Century Fox, where he proposed and developed story ideas for television and movies. The files include synopses of proposed scripts as well as expense reports for some of the research and travel he undertook.

The remainder of the collection is somewhat miscellaneous in content. There are issues of The Blue Jacket, 1944-1945, dating from Felker's years as a sports editor. Also represented are Felker's years at Duke, including his articles and editorials in a few issues of The Archive and Duke 'n' Duchess, as well as bound copies of the Duke University Chronicle, 1948-1952, dating from Felker's years as a writer and editor. There are also small amounts of correspondence and reports from some of Felker's other interests and ventures, many of which never went past the planning stages. There is some personal correspondence and materials from Felker's friends and family, dating largely from the 1970s, and some other miscellaneous material.

Biographical / historical:
Chronology List
Date Event
1925 October 2
Born, Webster Grove, Mo.
1942
Entered Duke University
1943
Left Duke University to join the Navy
1948
Editor, Duke Chronicle newspaper
1948
Expelled from Duke for staying out with his date, Leslie Blatt, past the Women's College curfew
1949
Married Leslie Blatt
1950
Re-enrolled at Duke University
1951
Graduated Duke University
1950-1951
Worked as a statistician with New York Giants broadcasting
1951-1954
Sports writer for Life magazine
1954
Helped develop Sports Illustrated
1954-1957
Political reporter in Washington for Life magazine
1957-1962
Features editor, Esquire
1962
Married Pamela Tiffin, an actress and fashion model
1963-1967
Editor, New York, the Sunday supplement magazine of the New York Herald Tribune
1966
Herald Tribune, World-Telegram and Sun, and Journal-American merged into the World Journal Tribune
1967
World Journal Tribune folded; Felker purchased naming rights to New York
1969-1976
Editor, New York magazine
1969
Divorced Pamela Tiffin
1971 December
New York issue included an insert of selections from Ms. magazine
1972 January
Funded first stand-alone issue of Ms. magazine
1974
New York Magazine Company merged with The Village Voice; Felker became editor of The Village Voice
1975
New York spin-off, New West, began publishing in California
1976
Lost control of New York Magazine Company to Rupert Murdoch; resigned as editor of New York
1977 August
Purchased Esquire magazine; became Esquire editor
1979
Sold Esquire magazine; resigned as editor
1980-1981
Editor, The Daily News Tonight, a division of The New York Daily News
1980-1981
Producer, 20th Century Fox
1981-1982
Editor, AdWeek
1984
Married Gail Sheehy, a writer
1987-1990
Editor, Manhattan Inc. magazine
1994
Lecturer, University of California at Berkeley
2008 July 1
Died, New York City, New York
Acquisition information:
The Clay Felker Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 2010.
Processing information:

Processed by Meghan Lyon, November 2010

Encoded by Meghan Lyon, November 2010

Materials may not have been ordered and described beyond their original condition.

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. The library may require up to 48 hours to retrieve these materials for research use.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Clay Felker Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University