Manie Barron

I did not know Manie Barron well (and I don’t know the author of this piece, Chris Jackson, at all, except by reputation), but I did acquire at least one book here for Bolden from Manie. Chris Jackson, if you don’t know of him, is one of the very, very few black men with a significant job in big NY book publishing, and this piece really captures what is still a preposterous employment situation in that industry. Manie Barron was a trailblazer at a time when there were virtually no black people in big publishing; what’s especially sad is that a generation later, there are still so few men like Chris Jackson walking down that trail. As with so many aspects of publishing, it’s better out here in the independent world. But the way Jackson communicates his dismay here is very powerful.

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