Brendan Gill facts for kids

Brendan Gill (born October 4, 1914 – died December 27, 1997) was an American journalist and writer. He worked for The New Yorker magazine for over 60 years. Gill also wrote about movies, design, and buildings. He wrote fifteen books, including a popular one about his time at The New Yorker.

Life and Work

Brendan Gill was born in Hartford, Connecticut. He went to the Kingswood-Oxford School. Later, he graduated from Yale University in 1936. He lived for a long time in Bronxville, New York, and Norfolk, Connecticut.

In 1936, an editor named St. Clair McKelway hired Gill to write for The New Yorker. Gill was one of the few writers who worked under the magazine's first four editors. He wrote more than 1,200 articles for the magazine. These included special features, news stories, and many reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway plays.

In 1949, Gill wrote a review of John O'Hara's novel A Rage to Live. Gill did not like the book. He called it "a catastrophe" and said it was not a great American novel. Some people thought his review was very harsh. After this, O'Hara did not write for The New Yorker for over ten years.

Gill later wrote in his memoir that James Thurber made the situation worse. Thurber falsely told O'Hara that another writer, Wolcott Gibbs, had written the review. Gill said Thurber liked to cause arguments between friends. Gill later said he was sorry for the review. He regretted that it caused his friendship with O'Hara to end.

From 1987 to 1996, Gill was The New Yorker's main architecture critic. He wrote the "Skyline" column, following Lewis Mumford. He also wrote for Architectural Digest in the 1980s and 1990s. Gill cared a lot about saving old buildings and other visual arts. He joined Jacqueline Kennedy to help save and restore New York's Grand Central Terminal. He also led the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Gill wrote 15 books, including Here at The New Yorker and a book about Frank Lloyd Wright called Many Masks.

Later Years

Brendan Gill passed away in 1997 at the age of 83. After his death, writer John Updike described him as someone who was "avidly alert to the power of art in general." This means Gill was very interested in how powerful art could be.

Family

Brendan Gill's son, Michael Gates Gill, wrote a book called How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else. His youngest son, Charles Gill, wrote the novel The Boozer Challenge.

Important Roles

• Chairman of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
• Chairman of the Municipal Art Society
• Chairman of the New York Landmarks Conservancy
• Vice President of the American Academy of Arts and Letters

See also

In Spanish: Brendan Gill para niños