What does a publishing industry executive do after he or she retires? Become a couch potato or find working venues for passionate causes? What does Santa Barbara have to offer for someone who wants “to help writers get their books out there and give readers book choices”?
Check out former vice president of marketing and executive editor of Bantam Books Fred Klein’s decisions below.
In his day, Bantam was a top paperback publisher often printing 20 to 22 percent of the market’s share. They published 400 titles in 1980, a large number given no Internet to get any book out. Among their many famous authors were Robert Ludlum, Jacqueline Susann, Louis L’Amour and James Blish’s Star Trek series. The list goes on.
When asked about his favorite memories of working for Bantam in publishing’s golden years, his answer was not what I expected.
“I tend to remember our errors and mistakes. One was when Leon Uris’ Exodus was published in 1958. I had many banners made advertising the book by saying it was a ‘complete unabridged’ version. Bookstores across the country used it. A while later, I realized that the ‘l’ was mistakenly left out so it read ‘compete unabridged.’ No one seemed to notice, but I did.
“Another was when we published Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time in 1988 and put out 150,000 hardback copies. Then we found the illustrations and captions had gotten mixed up throughout the book so they did not match. We had to take back all the books sold and replace them. Fortunately, the book is still selling.”
A couple of years before retirement in 1990, his boss said, “You need two years to adjust to retirement.”
Klein went to Los Angeles to see his brother in June 1988. Another Bantam employee had told him about the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. It spurred him to check it out. There, he met and became friends with Paul Lazarus, a former vice president of Columbia Pictures. Lazarus co-chaired the SBWC with Barnaby Conrad.
The following year, Klein participated in the weeklong SBWC again and decided to move to here in 1990: “It was a good place to live and close but not too close to my brother.”
Not someone to stay seated and inactive, Klein took up a suggestion from Lazarus and became involved in Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic. He served as a volunteer reader and chairman of the board. When the national board in Princeton, N.J., decided to replace the locally run nonprofit orgnanization, Klein was among those disappointed.
“I was frustrated,” Klein said, “when the national board decided to run it from their home office. We had a range of 60 volunteers from professors to professionals to stay-at-home people, all reading for the blind. We tried to help them find similar work but couldn’t do it for all of them.”
Meanwhile, Klein continues working with the SBWC each June serving as councilor/ombudsman for those needing specific help. He also has helped bring in featured speakers such as Dominick Dunne (The Two Mrs. Grenvilles) and Nancy Holmes (Nobody’s Fault).
“This conference immerses writers in learning how to create and take advantage of their knowledge and brain power,” Klein said.
He became a book reviewer for the Santa Barbara News-Press when The New York Times owned the paper. The News-Press was developing projects to help the community celebrate the coming millennial century in 1999.
Among them was the Santa Barbara Book & Author Festival in fall 1999 in De la Guerra Plaza. Celebrity author and first recipient of the Ross Macdonald Award, Ray Bradbury opened it as a featured speaker joined by many other well-known authors. Writers, local and out of town, filled the plaza with booths to celebrate and make their works available. It fit Klein’s wish to help authors get their books out there.
When The New York Times sold the paper, the News-Press dropped its sponsorship of the book festival. Klein and other literary members in the community, such as the library’s executive director, Irene Macias, Borders manager Kate Schwab and author Gayle Lynds jumped in to keep the festival going. Later it moved to the main public library facility and continued to grow.
“We had many good speakers,” Klein said, “but T.C. Boyle was the best. I also enjoyed using a bullhorn out on State Street to encourage people to come into De la Guerra Plaza for the festival. It worked and was fun.”
Unfortunately, the book festival didn’t last. “The biggest disappointment was when we had to cancel in 2008 because of the economic downturn. Too few authors could afford to continue participating. My biggest dream these days is to get SBWC connected with the public library to restart it.”
At that point, Klein looked around to see what else could be done.
The Santa Barbara Foundation in 2003 celebrated its 75th anniversary. Max Fleischmann had sponsored band concerts around town in the foundation’s early days. Klein stepped in to arrange similar concerts throughout the year in various locations. If this gives a hint that music is another of his passions, you read it right.
“I had more experience creating book marketing and down-to-earth action in getting a book out there in New York City than here,” he said. “I’ve wanted to do more.”
His next step was the creation of local TV channel 17 program Literary Gumbo. Production assistant Lisa Angle had broached Klein about interviewing local authors.
“I decided to give it a try and ended up doing it for seven years with 227 author interviews,” he said. “My last ones this month featured Grace Rachow, director of SBWC, and Eric Kelly, owner of Santa Barbara’s oldest bookstore, The Book Den, begun in 1933 or 85 years old.”
The writers he chose to interview were not necessarily celebrities but “writers spreading out in our community, interesting ones who appreciated help getting the word out about their books or writing projects. That’s what they needed from me.”
As an expert in marketing during his publishing days, Klein is aware of what it sometimes takes to get a book out there.
“When you have a book published, you need to make it known publicly,” he said. “The TV show helped promote this, especially with early authors. It became an outlet to announce their interests and how the book was done and where the author is going next. It’s turned out to be a part of authors’ marketing.”
Isn’t it enough to say Klein has done more than needed? As someone celebrating his 95th birthday next month, he is still a go-getter with a brain far from slowing down. He constantly comes up with new ideas for projects and activities.
The latest began two years ago when he started a Free Library on 329 S. Salinas St.
“I thought I’d be the only one to supply it so have used Planned Parenthood’s annual book sale and other resources to help provide books in Spanish adding to English books,” he said. “Then I realized that others like writer Pete Dal Bello have contributed to that Free Library.
“The books are constantly taken out and others put in. One time, the Free Library wooden holder had graffiti on it. When I went back two hours later, it had been cleaned off. The little bookshelf box is still going.”
When asked what made our town such a haven for his hopes and goals, he thought for a moment and then came up with an enthusiastic answer: “Santa Barbara has so many riches in community involvement that it drew me in. This city has a fountainhead of nonprofit opportunities.”
My final question was, what kind of advice would be given to people who are retiring or making changes in life while looking for new paths?
“Get involved — no matter what it is, be involved,” he said. “Look at the movers and shakers in the nonprofit world. Many are in their 70s and 80s and highly involved. That’s what keeps them and you young.”
Click here for more information about SBWC and what it will offer June 17-22, and consider attending. It can be a life-changer, spoken by she who knows!
— Noozhawk columnist Susan Miles Gulbransen — a Santa Barbara native, writer and book reviewer — teaches writing at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference and through the Santa Barbara City College Continuing Education Division. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are her own.
