October 21, 2010 Chattanooga native and Sewanee graduate Jon Meacham has taken a job as executive vice president and executive editor at Random House, which published his biography of Andrew Jackson, American Lion, winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize. He will acquire and edit nonfiction titles and will begin his duties on January 3, 2011.
From 2006 until August of this year, Meacham was the editor of Newsweek magazine. His other books include Franklin and Winston and American Gospel, and he is under contract to write biographies of Thomas Jefferson and George H.W. Bush. He also co-hosts the weekly PBS program, Need to Know.
In a statement released by his publicist, Meacham said, “For more than a decade, I have had a splendid relationship with Random House as an author, and now it feels natural to extend this relationship into a role as a contributor to their publishing program. I love editing, I love books, and I love the people at Random House, which always has felt like the right place for me. I have benefited enormously over the years as an author from the terrific work of Gina Centrello, my editor Kate Medina, and the greater Random House publishing team.”
No word on when the man plans to sleep.
For more updates on Tennessee authors, please visit Chapter 16‘s News & Notes page, here.
