Robert McCrum (born John Robert McCrum 7 July 1953), is an English writer and editor. He served as literary editor of The Observer for more than ten years. In May 2008 he was appointed Associate Editor of the Observer and was succeeded as literary editor by William Skidelsky.[1] He was formerly editor-in-chief at Faber & Faber from 1990 to 1996.[2]
McCrum was educated at Sherborne School, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (MA) and the University of Pennsylvania (Thouron Fellow) and he was then editorial director at Faber & Faber from 1979 to 1989.[3] He writes regular reviews and is also co-author of The Story of English (McCrum, Robert, William Cran, and Robert MacNeil. New York: Elisabeth Sifton, 1986) and P. G. Wodehouse: A Life (McCrum, Robert, W. W. Norton & Company, 2004).
In 1995 McCrum suffered a massive stroke. The devastating experience and his recovery is chronicled in My Year Off. He had only been married for two months and the book includes diary entries made by his wife, the journalist Sarah Lyall.
He is a child of Michael William McCrum. He is married to Sarah Lyall, an American-born journalist who writes for The New York Times. They live in London with their two daughters.