(New York, NY, November 15, 2015)—Stephen Gardner Birmingham, noted author of more than 30 novels, short stories and nonfiction books died today at the age of 85.
Mr. Birmingham was born in 1929 in Hartford, CT, and graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts in 1953. After graduating with a BA, Mr. Birmingham worked for a time as a copywriter for the advertising firm of Needham Harper Steers (now DDB Needham Worldwide) in New York. In a twist, Mr. Birmingham recently intimated his affection for the series Mad Men, stating that many of the events and relationships portrayed in the series mirrored his time at Needham. Mr. Birmingham left Needham in 1954 to start his career as a journalist and essayist for magazines which included the vaunted Holiday magazine.
After serving in the US Army Signal Corps during the waning Korean War, Mr. Birmingham moved to Rye, NY, in 1953 where he lived with his wife, Jane Tillson, until their divorce in 1974. It was in Rye that the Birmingham’s raised their three children, now grown.
Mr. Birmingham was perhaps most noted for his number one New York Times bestseller “Our Crowd,” published in 1967. The book, which has the subtitle A History of the Great Jewish Families of New York, almost single-handedly created the literary genre of social histories. “Our Crowd” broke numerous records at its publication for, among other things, length of time on the New York Times Best Seller List, and confirmed Mr. Birmingham’s preeminence in the social history genre. Subsequently, he wrote several other books in the genre, including The Right People: A Portrait of the American Social Establishment, The Grandees: America’s Sephardic Elite, Real Lace: America’s Irish Rich, and Certain People: America’s Black Elite, among others.
His writings brought Mr. Birmingham notoriety, and he was featured on several talk shows in the 60s & 70s, which included Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin, and others.
In 1973 Mr. Birmingham moved to Cincinnati, OH, to continue writing and serve as an adjunct professor of creative writing at the University of Cincinnati, thereupon helping enumerable new, young writers in their quest for authorship.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Mr. Birmingham was prolific, authoring more than 18 books, including biographies of such notables as Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis, Wallis Warfield Windsor, and novelist John Marquand, as well as several novels. His last full length novel, The Wrong Kind of Money, was published in 1998, although he was in the process of preparing a memoir at the time of his death.
Throughout his lengthy writing career, Mr. Birmingham maintained as his literary agent the New York–based Brandt & Brandt Literary Agents, Inc. (now Brandt & Hochman) and the firm continued to represent Mr. Birmingham in the scheduled reissues of many of his titles as ebooks in late 2015. His past books were published by a myriad of the most prestigious houses in the business, including Harper & Row, Little, Brown & Co., Random House, and Simon & Schuster. The quality of his relationships in the industry speaks for the quality of Mr. Birmingham’s body of work during his lifetime.
A man of recognized social status in his own right, Mr. Birmingham travelled in heady circles subsequent to the publication of his blockbuster, “Our Crowd”, entertaining celebrities, artists and fellow writers through the years, many of whom are household names in screen and literary circles. Known as a man with a prodigious memory, he is remembered fondly by his close friends and family as being able to complete the New York Times Crossword in record time and in ink!
Open Road Media will be publishing 11 of Mr. Birmingham’s books on December 1, 2015, including: “Our Crowd,” “The Rest of Us”: The Rise of America’s Eastern European Jews, The Right People: The Social Establishment in America, Real Lace: America’s Irish Rich, Life at the Dakota: New York’s Most Unusual Address, The Grandees: America’s Sephardic Elite, Carriage Trade, The Wrong Kind of Money, The Auerbach Will, The LeBaron Secret, and Shades of Fortune.
His family, which includes his partner of 42 years, Dr. Edward Lahniers, a noted psychologist in Cincinnati, remembered that throughout his writing career and up until the end, Mr. Birmingham typed virtually every manuscript, correspondence and communique on an aged Royal typewriter (using only two fingers), the same one he sits behind in the original jacket photo of “Our Crowd”, published in 1967. The photo was taken by his son, Carey, at the age of 12. “Our Crowd” was dedicated to his three children.
Mr. Birmingham is survived and remembered by Dr. Lahniers, and Mr. Birmingham’s three children from his first marriage: Carey Gardner Birmingham, Harriet Tillson Birmingham who reside in San Antonio, TX; Mark Cooper Birmingham, who resides Fort Collins, CO; his sister, Susan Gardner Losee, née Birmingham who resides in Andover, CT; and his sole grandchild and namesake, Caitlin Gardner Birmingham, who also resides in San Antonio.
For more information, contact Dr. Edward Lahniers at lahniers@fuse.net, Carey Birmingham at cbirm542@att.net or 210-262-8490.
