Nathaniel Lande

Nathaniel Lande
Born Canada
Occupation Author, Filmmaker, Journalist, Professor, Inventor
Spouse(s) Natalya Chamkina
Children Andrew Lande

Nathaniel Lande, born of Canadian parents, is a journalist, author, and filmmaker with a career spanning several decades. He is the author of ten books including Cricket[1] and Dispatches from the Front: A History of the American War Correspondent, and was the creative force behind TIME Incorporated during his tenure. The holder of two patents, he is also credited for creating the Electronic Book and the Bookbank, a computerized electronic storage and retrieval system. [2]

His most recent novel, The Life and Times of Homer Sincere, was released in May 2010 to critical acclaim,[3] and the 10 Best of Everything is a current bestseller for National Geographic Books.[4]

Education

He was educated at the Avon Old Farms School, Duke University, Oxford University, and earned his PhD at Trinity College, Dublin in 1992.[5] While a "Yank at Oxford", he and two classmates won an ARTS Council Award for their musical comedy, A Word With the Governor, a satire about the British Colonial Office. The play opened to rave reviews at the Oxford Playhouse, and then enjoyed a limited engagement at London's Lyric Hammersmith theatre.

As a professor, he has held appointments to the School of Journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, and Distinguished Scholar to Trinity College Dublin.

Career

His accomplished career spans publishing, television, and films. Creative Director for the Magazine Group, TIME Incorporated;,[6] Director of Time World News Service, a Founding Director of TIME-Life Films; Executive Producer for both the CBS and NBC Television Networks; Producer/Director : Movies of the Week: CBS Cinema Center Films and Universal MCA.

At CBS he began his career in the mailroom, and soon was selected by the legendary Michael Dann and William Paley, to work for the head of Programming. Then he joined the producing staff of PM East, hosted by Mike Wallace, with his good friend, Peter Lassally, (who would later become producer of The Tonight Show at NBC). By night, the young and enterprising producers searched for talent discovering Woody Allen at the Bon Soir, a small club in New York, and Barbra Streisand at One Fifth Avenue, and were the first to book them on national television.

While Creative Director for the Magazine Group at TIME, Inc, he innovated presentations for the publishers of the magazines writing musical revues. All About Life, One for the Money, and 10 the Musical, for LIFE, Money, and People respectively. Each combined editorial content and publishing attributes. They were cleaver mini Broadway Revues touring the country targeting advertisers. No ad presentations had ever been so refreshing and engaging, establishing Nathaniel Lande, according to New York Magazine, as a TIME icon. His creators included, Scott Ellis and Susan Stroman who later became acclaimed Broadway directors. Susan Stroman is best known for Contact and The Producers.[7] As Director of TIME World News Service, he broadcast TIME stories to America and 70 countries around the world, writing and producing over 800 radio broadcasts.[8]

Dispatches from the Front: A History of the American War Correspondent is a book about the men and women who reported the gallantry, the raw courage and the horror of America's wars

Montage and Window on the World, are two of the films and documentaries Nathaniel Lande wrote, produced and directed at TIME, winning over Twenty Gold Medals and International Awards, including the New York and Cannes Film Festival[9] With Gregory Peck, Nathaniel Lande served as a special White House aide under two United States Presidents. Part of his duties included producing White House events. His productions of A Salute to Congress and a History of Presidential Campaign Songs called Sing Along with Millard Fillmore, starring Walter Cronkite as narrator, delighted the Congress.[10]

The holder of two patents he is credited for creating the Electronic Book and the Bookbank, a computerized electronic storage and retrieval system. [2] Another innovation was adapting a motion stabilizing system to motion picture cameras, a technology used for gunnery sights on helicopters during the war in Viet Nam, he found on assignment while making a documentary for LIFE Magazine on Helicopter Warfare with the award winning photographer, Larry Burrows, who was killed shortly after in Cambodia. The lens won an Academy Award for Technology.

He is author of ten books including two novels. His notable book Cricket is partly autobiographical, a coming of age story and triumph over a childhood handicap, received critical acclaim from the New York Times and Publishers Weekly. Both he, and his central character Jonathan Landau, could not speak for the first nine years of their lives. Both the real Lande and fictional Landau made significant contributions to the first Special Olympics.

His other works include National Geographic The 10 Best of Everything, An Ultimate Guide for Travelers[11][12] [13] Cricket, New American Library[14] Blueprinting,;[15] the highly acclaimed,[16]

[17] [18] Dispatches from the Front: A History of the American War Correspondent (New York: Henry Holt, 1995; New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998);[19] Mindstyles-Lifestyles: Price Stern and Sloan;[20] The Emotional Maintenance Manual,[21] Stages, Harper and Row,[22] Self-Health: The Life-Long Fitness Book, Holt, Rinehart Winston;[23] The Moral Responsibility of the Press, Time, Inc.[24] and The Cigar Connoisseur, An Illustrated History and Guide to the World's Finest Cigars, Clarkson Potter.[25]

Lande's most recent novel, The Life and Times of Homer Sincere, Whose Amazing Adventures are Documented by his True and Trusted Friend Rigby Canfield, was released by Overlook Press in May 2010. The novel has been described as:

an epic landscape of America; a picaresque novel spanning three decades in America before the fall of magazine empires and the great Hollywood Studios sold their last ticket

The novel has won praise from authors including Walter Isaacson,[26] Homer Hickam,[27] Selden Edwards,[28] and William Styron[3][29]

Personal life

Nathaniel Lande served as a special White House aide under two United States Presidents. He was married to Linda Hope, daughter of Dolores and Bob Hope. They have one son, author Andrew Lande, an expert food and wine writer and a journalist. He lives in Montecito, California and New York, and is presently married to Natalya Chamkina, the noted Russian ballerina.

Awards

Festival Award
San Francisco Film Festival Gold Medal (Montage)
Cannes Film Festival (Montage)
New York International Film Festival Gold Medal (Window On the World)
Chicago Film Festival Gold Medal (Montage)
Edinburgh Film Festival CINE
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences Academy Award for Technology shared with Dynascience

Bibliography

References

  1. “An extraordinary, sensitive novel…thoughtful…extremely moving…a powerful testimony to courage and faith." -The New York Times " Heart warming and heart breaking. A novel you will treasure." - Publishers Weekly “A novel that demands attention and has something to say. Nathaniel Lande's focus and feeling will open your eyes to what courage and life are all about.” -Atlanta Constitution
  2. 2.0 2.1 TOWARDS THE ELECTRONIC BOOK: Publishers Weekly, New York, September 1991 Patents held by Nathaniel Lande for the Electronic Book and Book Bank: : United States Patent Office, Washington D.C. Patent Number: 07/948-978 Reel 6-2-99 Frame 0996 Reel 6-3-16 Frame 0935.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Published Works". 2010. Retrieved 8 April 2010.
  4. 400,000 in print
  5. 'Class Notes: 1990s', Trinity Alumni, Issue 11
  6. The only senior executive to have had a piano in his office
  7. All About Life, One for the Money, 10 The Musical; TIME, Inc. Archives. New York
  8. TIME. Letter from the Publisher. April 16, 1984
  9. Ibid. Time Inc. Archives. New York
  10. The National Archives. Washington, D.C.
  11. “A rich dreambook for those of us still waiting for our own ships to come in. Logging over 4,000,000 miles, and compiled by veteran travelers Nathaniel and Andrew Lande, this extravagantly entertaining volume has historical and literary journeys, a whole host of trips and expeditions for any taste and to every continent including Antarctica, each complete itinerary a unique variation upon the theme of the 21st century Grand Tour. Highlighted with vintage posters and color illustrations, cosmopolitan sidebars, engaging personal narratives, and famous contributors and correspondents, sets the book apart from any other travel book. Savvy tips, with a wide array of detailed information on luxury hotels, resorts, restaurants, and more, this elegant and sophisticated treasury of travel lore will awaken the wanderlust in readers everywhere”. -National Geographic
  12. "Mr. Lande's life is just as extraordinary as The 10 BEST OF EVERYTHING, with lists, vignettes and reproductions from his vintage poster collection that are sprinkled throughout the book. How else does one describe a man whose father took him as a young boy to China and India and crossed the Khyber Pass into Burma, who plays Polo with the world class players in Argentina, who was taught to tap dance by Tommy Tune, who was married to Bob Hope's daughter and is now married to a former Russian ballerina, who was a college professor, who worked with Mike Wallace, Walter Cronkite and Gregory Peck?" -Marilyn Mahon, Santa Barbara News Press, May 21, 2006.
  13. THE 10 BEST OF EVERYTHING: Page 480. Published in 2006 by National Geographic Books, The National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. ISBN 0-7922-5364-7
  14. CRICKET: New American Library: ISBN 0-453-00392-3; HarperCollins
  15. BLUEPRINTING: Rebuilding Your Career and Relationships: Short Term Strategies for Long Term Goals: HarperCollins Publishers, New York: ISBN 0-06-251049-5
  16. "A dynamite read . . . Should be in every war correspondent's past, present and future kit bag." -Colonel David A. Hackworth, correspondent for NEWSWEEK and author of About Face.
  17. "Beautifully written . . This masterful collection is for anyone who appreciates good writing and loves journalism. It is a moving account of our republic that honors the best in our profession." Edward Barnes, TIME.
  18. DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT is a first rate book about the men and women who reported the gallantry, the raw courage and the horror of America's wars. Nathaniel Lande is both a teacher and a scholar in his vivid account of these correspondents, who became opinion makers helping to shape an emerging nation." -William Friday, President Emeritus, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  19. DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT: A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WAR CORRESPONDENT: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS: NEW YORK AND LONDON: ISBN 0-7567-9014-X
    DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT: Henry Holt Publishers, New York: Hardcover: ISBN 0-8050-3664-4
  20. MINDSTYLES-LIFESTYLES: A Comprehensive Overview of Today's Life Changing Philosophies, ISBN 0-8431-0409-0 Library of Congress Card No: 76-10562
  21. THE EMOTIONAL MAINTENANCE MANUAL: Rawson, Wade Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-89256-088-6
  22. STAGES: Understanding How You Make Moral Decision: Harper and Row Publishers, New York: ISBN 0-06-250510-6
  23. SELF HEALTH: The Life Long Fitness Book: Holt, Rinehart and Winston: New York: ISBN 0-03-048316-6
  24. THE MORAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PRESS, MONTAGE, WINDOW ON THE WORLD: TIME, Inc. Archives: Rockefeller Plaza, New York.
  25. THE CIGAR CONNOISSEUR: Clarkson Potter an Imprint of Random House New York: 1997 ISBN ISBN 0-517-70846-9 A Letter From The Publisher, TIME Magazine April 16, 1984: Nathaniel Lande, Director of TIME World News Service, TIME, Inc. New York.
  26. "This is a wonderful epic tale of a soldier of the world making his way from New Orleans to the realms of magazine publishing and the great era of Hollywood Studios. It captures the spirit of a great time in America. Nathaniel Lande, a valued veteran of the golden years at Time/Life, is the perfect person to bring us the endearing and amazing adventures of Homer Sincere. " - Walter Isaacson
  27. "I have just had a remarkable journey across a landscape of time, place, and emotion. In other words, I just finished reading Nathaniel Lande's remarkable novel about one Homer Sincere. Part Forrest Gump, part Rocket Boys, and part Adventures in the Screen Trade. This is the story of an America that used to be or at least should have been. I pronounce it an instant classic!" - Homer Hickam
  28. "Nathaniel Lande’s novel is rich with nostalgia, compassion and humor. The saga of Rigby and Homer is beautifully told, full of rich details you will not soon forget. You will finish this special tale satisfied, but wanting more. There is a symmetry here: a story about movies that would make a good movie." - Selden Edwards, author of the New York Times bestseller, The Little Book
  29. “An American Novel, with a lovely confection of unforgettable characters; a gem of a story full of smiles.” Spanning America over three decades, the picaresque novel begins and ends with an amazing friendship between two friends whose adventures take them from New Orleans and New York to Hollywood." - William Styron

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