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Personal life: grammar

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{{short description|Indian publisher (1942–2019)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sonny Mehta
| birth_name = Ajai Singh Mehta
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1942|11|09}}
| birth_place = [[New Delhi]], India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2019|12|30|1942|11|09}}
| death_place = New York City, U.S.
| education = {{Ubl
| [[The Lawrence School, Sanawar]]
| [[Sevenoaks School]], Kent;
| [[St Catharine's College, Cambridge|St Catharine's College]]
| [[University of Cambridge]]
}}
| occupation = [[Book editor]] and publishing executive
| spouse = {{Marriage|[[Gita Mehta]]|1965}}
| children = 1
}}
'''Ajai Singh "Sonny" Mehta''' (9 November 1942<ref name=NYT>McFadden, Robert D. (31 December 2019), [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/31/books/sonny-mehta-dead.html "Sonny Mehta, Venerable Knopf Publisher, Is Dead at 77"], ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref> – 30 December 2019<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2019/12/knopf-doubleday-chairman-sonny-mehta-dies-at-77/|title=Knopf Doubleday Chairman Sonny Mehta Dies at 77|first=Michael|last=Cader|date=31 December 2019|website=Publishers Lunch}}</ref>) was an Indian editor and the editor-in-chief of [[Alfred A. Knopf]] and chairman of the [[Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group]].

== Early life ==
Born in [[New Delhi]] on 9 November 1942, Sonny Mehta was the son of Amrik Singh Mehta, among the first of independent India's diplomats,<ref name=":1" /> and Satinder (Duggal) Singh.<ref name=NYT /> As a child, Mehta lived all over the world, including Prague, New York City, Nepal and Geneva.<ref name=":1" /> He was educated at the [[The Lawrence School, Sanawar|Lawrence School, Sanawar]], and [[Sevenoaks School]] in Kent, where he won an open scholarship to [[St Catharine's College, Cambridge|St Catharine's College]], [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]].<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/how-we-met-5551498.html|title = How We Met: Sir Richard Eyre and Gita Mehta|first=Glenda|last= Cooper|date = 7 September 1997|access-date = 1 January 2020|website = [[The Independent]] }}</ref> At Cambridge University he read History and English Literature and worked on the magazine ''[[Granta]]''.

==Career==
Mehta began his publishing career in 1965 in London at [[Rupert Hart-Davis#independent publisher|Rupert Hart-Davis]], then joined [[Granada Publishing]] in 1966 to co-found a new publishing house, Paladin, where he commissioned [[Germaine Greer]]'s influential ''[[The Female Eunuch]]''<ref>{{Cite book|title = Germaine Greer: Untamed Shrew|last = Wallace|first = Christine|publisher = Faber and Faber|year = 1999|isbn = 9780571199341|url-access = registration|url = https://archive.org/details/germainegreerunt00wall}}</ref> and brought American writers to the UK public with books including [[Hunter Thompson]]'s ''[[Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas]]''. Moving to [[Pan Books]] in 1972, Mehta added to its list of best-selling authors by publishing writers who went on to become household names, including [[Jackie Collins]] and [[Douglas Adams]], and launched there the [[Picador (imprint)|Picador]] [[imprint (trade name)|imprint]], publishing Booker Prize winners [[Ian McEwan]], [[Salman Rushdie]], [[Edmund White]], [[Julian Barnes]] and [[Graham Swift]], as well as [[Ryszard Kapuściński]], [[Angela Carter]], [[Bret Easton Ellis]] and [[Michael Herr]], leading ''[[The Times]]'' to describe his tenure as producing "the Picador Generation".<ref>{{Cite web|title = History – Picador|url = http://www.picador.com/info/history|website = www.picador.com|access-date =9 September 2015|last = Picador}}</ref>

In 1987, Mehta moved from London to New York City<ref>{{Cite journal|title = The King of the Heap|last = Jack|first = Ian|author-link=Ian Jack|date = May 1987|journal = Vanity Fair}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url =https://archive.org/stream/connoisseurillus217maylon/connoisseurillus217maylon_djvu.txt |title = Top of the Heap: Why an English editor got the best job in American book publishing|last = Durden-Smith|first = Jo|author-link=Jo Durden-Smith|date = June 1987|journal = [[The Connoisseur (magazine)|Connoisseur]]}}</ref> to head the American literary imprint [[Alfred A. Knopf]] as president and editor-in-chief.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title = A Century of Alfred A. Knopf|url = http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/66661-a-century-of-knopf.html|first=Clare |last=Swanson|date=15 May 2015|access-date = 9 September 2015}}</ref> Mehta was chosen by [[Robert Gottlieb]], who was leaving Knopf to edit ''[[The New Yorker]]''. On Mehta's watch, Knopf published six [[Nobel Prize for Literature|Nobel literature]] laureates<ref>{{Cite web|title = All Nobel Prizes in Literature|url = https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/|website = www.nobelprize.org|access-date =9 September 2015}}</ref> ([[Kazuo Ishiguro]], [[Alice Munro]], [[Orhan Pamuk]], [[Imre Kertész]], [[V. S. Naipaul]], and [[Toni Morrison]]),<ref name =Cowdrey>Cowdrey, Katherine (31 December 2019), [https://www.thebookseller.com/news/one-worlds-best-editors-sonny-mehta-dies-aged-77-1144086 "Sonny Mehta dies aged 77"], ''[[The Bookseller]]''.</ref> numerous [[Pulitzer Prize]], [[Booker Prize]] and [[National Book Award]] winners, and continued the tradition of publishing important French, German, Italian, Spanish, Scandinavian, South American, African, Asian writers as well as work by such contemporary leaders as U.S. presidents [[George H. W. Bush]] and [[Bill Clinton]], UK Prime Ministers [[Margaret Thatcher]] and [[Tony Blair]], and [[Pope John Paul II]]. Mehta's tenure at Knopf featured new translations of [[Tolstoy]], [[Thomas Mann]], [[Robert Musil]], and [[Albert Camus]]; bestsellers<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sonny-mehta-the-wests-most-dynamic-and-versatile-books-publisher/1/306652.html|title = The Unknown Prince of Publishing|first=Tarun J.|last= Tejpal|author-link=Tarun Tejpal|date = 19 June 2013|website =I[[ndia Today]] }}</ref> included [[Ken Burns]]'s history of the Civil War, [[Michael Crichton]]'s ''[[Jurassic Park]]'', [[Stieg Larsson]]'s ''[[Girl with the Dragon Tattoo]]'' trilogy, [[James Ellroy]]'s crime fiction, and the [[Fifty Shades trilogy|''Fifty Shades'' trilogy]]. Mehta recognized the importance of the new genre of graphic novels, publishing prize-winning titles ''[[Maus]]'' and ''[[Persepolis (comics)|Persepolis]]''.

Although Alfred A. Knopf has been publishing books for more than one hundred years, Mehta was only the third editor-in-chief.<ref name=":0" /> He told ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' in 2015: "On a good day, I am still convinced I have the best job in the world."<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/09/sonny-mehta-knopf-editor-in-chief|title=Why Knopf Editor in Chief Sonny Mehta Still Has the 'Best Job in the World'|last=Eggers|first=Dave|author-link=Dave Eggers|website=Vanity Fair|date=15 September 2015|access-date=8 April 2016}}</ref>

The addition of [[Pantheon Books|Pantheon]], [[Vintage Books]], [[Schocken Books|Schocken]] and [[Everyman's Library|Everyman's]] Library to the Knopf Publishing Group, and later the Doubleday group in 2009,<ref name =Cowdrey /> all working under Mehta's direction, led to him being described as the world's most important [[anglophone]] publisher.<ref name=":1" />

On Alfred A. Knopf surviving threats to the publishing business and the tumult of acquisitions and mergers, Mehta said: "We're part of something that is very large but we concentrate on our way of doing things. It may be illusory to insulate oneself from it all, but we try."<ref name=":1" />

==Awards and recognition==
Mehta won Lifetime Achievement Awards for publishing in India, the UK,<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.thebookseller.com/news/sonny-mehta-receive-lbf-lifetime-achievement-award|title = Sonny Mehta to receive LBF Lifetime Achievement Award|first=Katie |last=Allen|date =8 March 2011 |website =The Bookseller }}</ref> and the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Nobel winner Venkatraman Ramakrishnan is India Abroad Person of [the year]|publisher= [[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]]|url = https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&tkr=PEP:US&sid=aBLce6hlqSJU|date=6 March 2012|access-date =9 September 2015}}</ref> He was awarded an honorary doctorate by [[Bard College]] in 2008.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Bard Press Release {{!}} Congressman Charles B. Rangel To Deliver Commencement Address at Bard College's 148th Commencement On Saturday, 24 May|url = http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=1473|website = www.bard.edu|date=2008|access-date =9 September 2015|last = Bard College}}</ref> He was in the Hall of Fame in ''Vanity Fair''{{'}}s Best-Dressed Men in the World list.<ref>{{Cite web|title = The International Best-Dressed Hall of Fame 2015|url = http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2015/08/best-dressed-list-hall-of-fame-2015|date=5 August 2015|access-date =9 September 2015|work=Vanity Fair}}</ref>

He was named 2015 Person of the Year by ''[[Publishers Weekly]]''.<ref>Deahl, Rachel (4 December 2015), [http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/68858-sonny-mehta-pw-person-of-the-year.html "Sonny Mehta: 2015 PW Person of the Year"], ''Publishers Weekly''.</ref>

In 2018, the [[Center for Fiction]] awarded Mehta the [[Maxwell E. Perkins]] Award, honouring the lifetime work of an editor, publisher or agent "who over the course of his or her career has discovered, nurtured and championed writers of fiction in the United States."<ref>[https://global.penguinrandomhouse.com/announcements/sonny-mehta-receives-maxwell-e-perkins-award-from-the-center-for-fiction/ "Sonny Mehta Receives Maxwell E. Perkins Award from the Center for Fiction"], News, Penguin Random House, 17 December 2018.</ref>

==Personal life==
In 1965, he married [[Gita Mehta|Gita Patnaik]],<ref name=NYT /> daughter of [[Biju Patnaik]] and sister of [[Naveen Patnaik]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/who-is/one-of-worlds-best-editors-chairman-of-knopf-doubleday-sonny-mehta-passes-away-6193122/|title='One of world's best editors': Alfred A Knopf's Sonny Mehta passes away|date=31 December 2019|website=The Indian Express|language=en-US|access-date=31 December 2019}}</ref> She later became a documentary film-maker and writer under her married name.<ref name=NYT /> They had one son, Aditya Singh Mehta.

Sonny Mehta died on 30 December 2019 at the age of 77,<ref name=":2" /> in [[Manhattan]], New York, of complications from pneumonia.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/dec/31/sonny-mehta-knopf-books-dies-77|title=Sonny Mehta, head of publisher Knopf, dies aged 77|agency=Associated Press in New York|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=31 December 2019}}</ref> To celebrate his life, memorial events were held in New York<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/Obituary/article/82466-hundreds-turn-out-to-remember-sonny-mehta.html|title=Hundreds Turn Out to Remember Sonny Mehta|first=Jim|last= Milliot |work=Publishers Weekly|date=20 February 2020|access-date=12 November 2020}}</ref> and in London.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://publishingperspectives.com/2020/03/remembering-sonny-mehta-in-london-memorial-service-2020-holy-trinity/|title=Markus Dohle: 'I work for Sonny'|work=Publishing Perspectives|first= Roger |last=Tagholm|date=10 March 2020}}</ref>
The best-selling American author [[John Grisham]] dedicated his latest novel ''[[A Time for Mercy]]'' in memory of Mehta.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/623067/a-time-for-mercy-by-john-grisham/|title=A Time for Mercy by John Grisham: 9780593157824 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books|website=PenguinRandomhouse.com}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'', "The 101 Most Powerful People in Entertainment", [https://ew.com/article/1991/11/01/101-most-powerful-people-entertainment/ November 1991], October 1995, October 1996, October 1997.
*[[Roger Cohen]], [https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/13/arts/new-publishing-star-sonny-mehta-talks-profits-as-well-as-art.html "New Publishing Star, Sonny Mehta, Talks Profits As Well As Art"], ''The New York Times'' 13 November 1990.
*Edwin McDowell, [https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/26/arts/after-a-year-knopf-shows-the-impact-of-its-new-publisher.html "After A Year, Knopf Shows the Impact of Its New Publisher"], ''The New York Times'', 26 March 1988.

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[[Category:1942 births]]
[[Category:2019 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian editors]]
[[Category:Lawrence School, Sanawar alumni]]
[[Category:People from Manhattan]]
[[Category:Indian publishers (people)]]
[[Category:Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge]]

Sonny Mehta - Revision history

imported>Fish and karate: /* Personal life */ grammar