Publisher Alfred A. “Pat” Knopf, Jr., died 14 February 2009 of complications following a fall. Born 17 June 1918 in White Plains, New York, he was the son of the founders of Alfred A. Knopf Publisher, but chose to strike out on his own when his parents refused to hire editor Simon Michael Bessie as their eventual successor. The younger Knopf, Bessie, and Hiram Haydn instead lined up four financial backers for a total of $1 million, and formed Atheneum, which debuted in 1960. Atheneum had early success, publishing three best-sellers in its first three years. In 1978, the company merged with Charles Scribner’s Sons, to form the Scribner Book Companies, with Knopf as vice chairman (his two founding partners had already left the company). In 1984, Macmillan acquired SBC, and Knopf was made senior vice president of the company, maintaining responsibility for all adult books published by SBC until he retired in 1988. Atheneum is now mainly a children’s book publishing imprint within Simon & Schuster.
After graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1937, and failing to be accepted by Princeton, Knopf ran away from home and was a vagabond for a while. He then attended Union College (which later awarded him a BA), but left after three years to join the US Army Air Force. He served during World War II, earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, and retired with the rank of captain. After the war, he went to work for his parents.
Knopf is survived by his wife of 56 years, and three children.