Betty Prashker, Publisher of Feminist Classics, Dies at 99

Betty Prashker, a groundbreaking editor of the 20th century, passed away on July 30 at the age of 99. Known as one of the pioneering women in the publishing industry, Prashker was instrumental in bringing iconic books to the public, such as Kate Millett’s “Sexual Politics” and Susan Faludi’s “Backlash.” She also played a significant role in the careers of notable authors like Jean Auel, Dominick Dunne, and Erik Larson, among others. Prashker passed away at a family home in Alford, Massachusetts, as confirmed by her daughter, Lucy Prashker. The cause of death was not specified.

Throughout her career, Prashker held influential positions at Crown and Doubleday, both of which are currently part of Penguin Random House. “Without Betty, there would have been no Crown Publishing as we know it,” said Tina Constable, an executive vice president and publisher at Penguin Random House. Constable highlighted Prashker’s efforts in championing the advancement and higher pay for women in the publishing industry.

Born Betty Arnoff in New York City, she was a graduate of Vassar College and a lifelong book enthusiast, storyteller, and tennis player. Her personal and professional journey was reflective of many women’s experiences following World War II. She began her publishing career as a reader-receptionist at Doubleday in 1945. In 1950, she married labor lawyer Herbert Prashker, taking a decade off to raise their three children before returning to the workforce, buoyed by the feminist movement of the 1960s.

In the early 1960s, though initially rejected by Doubleday, Prashker was later invited to lunch by the Editor-in-Chief, Ken McCormick, who emphasized the need for more women in executive roles. Her discernment quickly found value; notably, in the late 1960s, she discovered a Columbia University graduate student, Kate Millett, who was writing a Ph.D. dissertation on the portrayal of women in Western literature. Prashker published Millett’s “Sexual Politics,” which became a cornerstone of second-wave feminism.

Prashker’s influence extended over decades, publishing hundreds of books that became bestsellers and critical hits. Among these were Erik Larson’s “The Devil in the White City,” Jean Auel’s “The Clan of the Cave Bear” series, and Dominick Dunne’s “The Two Mrs. Grenvilles.” In the early 1990s, while serving as editor-in-chief at Crown, she acquired Susan Faludi’s “Backlash: The Undeclared War Against Women,” a significant critique of the anti-feminist sentiment of the 1980s, which had been rejected by several publishers.

Faludi reminisced on medium.com in 2014 about how Prashker was the only person to show interest in her book. Prashker also took a chance on Erik Larson, who had struggled to find a publisher for his work on gun culture, “Lethal Passage.” Larson described his positive experience with Prashker, who demonstrated her commitment to supporting his book by organizing a comprehensive team meeting focused on its success.

Prashker continued as an executive at Crown until the late 1990s, after which she became an editor at large, still collaborating with authors like Larson. Her influence even extended to popular culture; in 1998, filmmaker Whit Stillman, a former Doubleday colleague, named a character in his film “The Last Days of Disco” after her.

Notably, Prashker also made a mark in legal history. In the 1970s, she observed that many industry colleagues took authors to the male-only Century Club. Despite being sponsored by figures like William F. Buckley, she was initially rejected because the club was designed for the “pleasure of gentlemen.” This changed in the mid-1980s when the Century Club was found to be in violation of local anti-discriminatory laws. However, Prashker chose not to reapply, humorously citing Groucho Marx’s famous quip about not wanting to join a club that would accept him as a member. For Prashker, the desegregation of the club was the real victory.

Her legacy remains significant in the publishing world, not just for the influential works she brought to light, but also for her tireless advocacy for women in the industry.

Source: The Associated Press