Larry Kirshbaum | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1944 (age 79–80) |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan |
| Occupation | Book publisher |
| Known for | Chief of publishing at Amazon.com |
| Spouse | Barbara Feder |
| Children | 2 |
Laurence "Larry" Kirshbaum is the former chief of publishing for Amazon Publishing.
Born to a Jewish family in Chicago in 1944 and raised in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.[1] In 1966, Kirshbaum graduated with a B.A. from the University of Michigan.[2] After school, he worked for Newsweek.[1][2] In 1970, he co-wrote a book with Roger Rapoport about student protests, Is the Library Burning?[1][2] In 1970, he accepted a job as a salesman for Random House selling to drugstores, small groceries, and gift shops.[2] In 1974, he went to work for Warner Books where he became a publisher in 1985, working with Jack Welch and Michael Eisner on their memoirs.[2] He then became CEO of the Time Warner Book Group.[3][4] In 2005, he left Time Warner to found his own literary agency.[2] In 2011, he went to work as the chief of publishing for Amazon Publishing;[5][3] which was striving to build its own publishing business. He signed numerous authors including actress and director Penny Marshall and best-selling writer Timothy Ferris.[6] In 2012, his efforts were crushed after bookseller Barnes & Noble stated that it would not sell books published by Amazon in its stores.[6] In October 2013, it was announced that he was leaving Amazon and will be replaced by Daphne Durham.[6]
He is married to the former Barbara Feder of Highland Park, Illinois; they have two children.[1]
In 2013, he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman.[7] Catherine Redlich, Kirshbaum's attorney, stated that the incident was a "consensual relationship from a decade ago which turned sour".[8][9]