Peter W. Kaplan | |
|---|---|
 Kaplan in 2008 | |
| Born | Peter Wennik Kaplan February 10, 1954 South Orange, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | November 29, 2013 (aged 59) New York City, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Occupation | Newspaper editor |
| Family | James Kaplan (brother) |
Peter Wennik Kaplan (February 10, 1954 – November 29, 2013[1]) was an American[2] editor known for modernizing New Journalism for the digital age. He was the editor-in-chief of the New York Observer, a weekly newspaper, for 15 years. The Kingdom of New York, an anthology of articles from the famously pink paper, was co-edited by Kaplan.[3]
In 2010, he worked as the editorial director of Fairchild Publications' Fairchild Fashion Group, where he helped oversee the relaunch of M, a men's magazine, and oversaw Women's Wear Daily, Footwear News, Menswear, the newly formed Fairchild books division, and other ventures.[4][5]
Kaplan was born to a Jewish family[6] in South Orange, New Jersey, the son of Roberta (née Wennik) and Robert Edward Kaplan.[7] Both his parents were from New York City. His mother was a psychotherapist and his father was the owner and president of clothing manufacturer Complex Industries Corp.[2][8] While at Columbia High School he joined the newspaper, The Columbian. He had two brothers, the writer James Kaplan and Rob Kaplan, an network executive at NBC and CBS and business owner. He went on to obtain his degree from Harvard University[2] in 1976. His college roommate was Robert Kennedy, Jr., son of late Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.[9][10][11]
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Kaplan's early career started at The New York Times, Esquire and Manhattan, inc. magazine where he served under both editors, Jane Amsterdam and Clay Felker.
In the early 1990s he served as an editorial director at Conde Nast Traveler and a producer at The Charlie Rose Show. He then served as editor-in-chief of the New York Observer, from 1994 to 2009.
At the Observer, Kaplan worked with the following writers:
On November 6, 2009, Kaplan appeared on The Charlie Rose Show, where he discussed the future of newspapers with regards to the Internet and mobile devices such as the Amazon Kindle, and Apple's iPad.[14]
Two former editors from the New York Observer, Peter Stevenson and Jim Windolf, turned Kaplan into a Twitter character with two personalities, "Wise Kaplan" and "Cranky Kaplan," followed by insiders in the New York journalism community.[15]
He died of cancer in New York City on November 29, 2013, according to his second wife, Lisa Chase,[16] an editor at Elle. The couple had a son named Davey.[17] His first marriage was to Audrey Walker; they had three children: Caroline, Charlie and Peter Kaplan.[2][16] Services were held at the Larchmont Temple.[6]
