Peter Schwed(1911-2003)
Peter Schwed was the son of Frederick Schwed a
Wall Street broker. Peter, a native New Yorker, graduated from the
Lawrenceville School. He left Princeton as a junior to go to work at
the Provident Loan Society of New York for 10 years to help support his
family through the Depression., rising to assistant vice president. He
tells of that chapter in his life in a book, bursting with anecdotes of
old New York, "God Bless Pawnbrokers". In World War II he served in the
Army and saw combat in Europe, earning a Bronze Star. He was discharged
as a captain in 1945, when he began his career at Simon & Schuster.
Peter Schwed, was a former editorial chairman and trade books publisher
at Simon & Schuster and an author in his own right. Peter began his
career at Simon & Schuster in 1945 as an editor. He was named executive
editor and a vice president in 1957, was the publisher of the trade
books division from 1966 to 1972 and retired as chairman emeritus of
the editorial board in 1984. Known as a working editor, he shepherded
books to publication for well-known authors, some of whom became
friends. He dealt with P. G. Wodehouse and Irving Wallace, David
McCullough and Cornelius Ryan. An avid tennis player, he also earned a
reputation as an editor of books by well-known sports figures and their
ghost writers. Among them were Jack Nicklaus, Rod Laver, Bill Tilden,
Chris Evert, Bjorn Borg, Roger Angell and Ted Williams. He wrote or
contributed to more than a dozen books, and was co-author, of the
autobiography of Nancy Lopez, "The Education of a Woman Golfer" . He
was a frequent contributor to sports publications, especially those
devoted to tennis, and his book "How to Talk Tennis" remains in print.
Peter was married to Antonia Sanxay Holding the daughter of the author
Elisabeth Sanxay Holding.