James Laughlin 1997 Deaths

James Laughlin

As founder of New Directions, one of the most important and influential publishing companies in the United States, Laughlin published the works of such literary luminaries as Vladimir Nabokov, Tennessee Williams, Ezra Pound and F. Scott Fitzgerald. In a letter to one of his writers, he summed up his philosophy and approach to publishing perfectly – “It is better to be read by 800 readers and be a good writer than be read by all the world and be Somerset Maugham.”