Clifton Fadiman

Date of Birth: May 15, 1904

Zodiac Sign: Taurus

Date of Death: June 20, 1999

Biography

Clifton Fadiman was an American intellectual, author, editor, and radio and television personality. Born to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, he grew up in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Columbia University in 1925 and began his career as a teacher and later as a managing editor at Simon & Schuster. Fadiman gained widespread fame as the host of the radio quiz show “Information Please,” which aired from 1938 to 1952. He was also known for his literary contributions, including writing, editing, and reviewing books for various publications. Over his long career, Fadiman worked as a book editor for The New Yorker, and he published numerous anthologies and collections of essays. His influence on American literary culture was profound, and he was known for making literature more accessible to the general public.

5 Interesting Facts about Clifton Fadiman

1. Clifton Fadiman was a child prodigy who read all of Shakespeare’s works by the age of 10.

2. He was a member of the Algonquin Round Table, a group of New York City writers, critics, and actors.

3. Fadiman edited the “Lifetime Reading Plan,” a guide to classic literature that has been widely used.

4. He was awarded the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters by the National Book Foundation in 1993.

5. Fadiman was an avid wine enthusiast and co-authored “The Joys of Wine” with Sam Aaron.

5 Most Interesting Quotes from Clifton Fadiman

1. “When you reread a classic you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more in you than was there before.”

2. “A good memory is one trained to forget the trivial.”

3. “To take wine into our mouths is to savor a droplet of the river of human history.”

4. “Cheese—milk’s leap toward immortality.”

5. “The adjective is the banana peel of the parts of speech.”

Highest Net Worth Achieved

Clifton Fadiman’s highest net worth is not well-documented, but he was considered quite successful due to his various roles in publishing, radio, and television.