BUSINESS
The Prolific Collection
NANCI ROSENBERG
Special to The Jewish News
D
Now 50, the
Wayne State
Universi ty
Press is
nationally
known as a
primary
publisher of
Judaica.
etroit has an interna-
tional reputation for
something other than
the car business.
Thanks to the Wayne
State University Press,
which turned 50 in
September, Detroit is known
as a leader in the publishing
of Judaic literature.
"Our Press has brought
international recognition to
Wayne State," said Leonard
N. Simons, an avid book col-
lector and retired advertis-
ing executive for whom the
Press building is nam-
ed."We can be very proud of
the quality and the quantity
of the books we publish."
To date, the Press has
published about 900 books.
Of those, 10 percent were
books related to Judaism,
according to Alice Nigogho-
sian, associate Press direc-
tor.
Mr. Simons has been an
active supporter of the press
for 40 years. So, too, has
been Emma Schaver, who
set up a fund with her late
husband, Morris, to support
authors of Jewish books.
"I feel gratified by the role
the Press has had in
publishing Jewish books,"
Mrs. Schaver said.
Recent Judaic books
published include Harmony
and Dissonance by Sidney
M. Bolkosky (1991), The
Jews of Detroit by Robert A.
Rockaway (1986) and a four-
volume set covering the
complete history of Ameri-
can Jews, United States
Jewry, 1776 - 1985 by Jacob
R. Marcus (1990, 1991).
Because of the Schaver
fund, a book of Yiddish
poems, Onions and
Cucumbers and Plums, was
translated and published in
English by the Press. Also
published with support of
the Schaver Fund was The
Fiddle Rose, a book of poems
released in 1990.
The idea to launch the
WSU Press dates back to
April 1941, when a few pro-
fessors met to discuss use of
funds available to publish
research studies. They called
another meeting for
September of that year,
when seven faculty members
designed an editorial board
and agreed that their task
would be approving publica-
tions of books for scholarly
and academic use.
A non-profit organization
which today is run by Ar-
thur Evans, the university
press aims to fill scholarly
needs and stimulate
academic research.
During its history, the
Press has experienced some
financial problems. When it
was launched, support from
the university was limited.
No publication funds were
established. The university
provided space, materials
and a part-time staff.
Although the editorial
board would only publish
books that brought in sub-
sidies from private donors,
manuscripts were often ob-
tained without sufficient
funds for publication.
In the early 1950s, shortly
after the Press was formed, a
group of community ac-
tivists met to discuss the
university press' financial
dilemma.
At the meeting were Press
Director Dr. Harold
Basilius, author of the Press'
first publication, A
Workbook for Reading Ger-
man; Charles Feinberg,
Detroit businessman, press
supporter and collector of
Walt Whitman books; and
Mr. Simons, a friend of Mr.
Feinberg who was known as
a fund-raising maven.
"I didn't know anything at
the time about the press,"
Mr. Simons said. "But I
always loved books."
The group created a board
of advisers, who started a
membership option for fund-
raising. For $100, patrons
would receive membership
in the Press. The team of ad-
visers also convinced the
university to match the
grants for each dollar raised.
The first meeting of the
board of advisers took place
in 1955, bringing in 17
charter members and
$3,400. Soon after, the board
grew and the dollars climbed
as well.
That same year, the Press
covered two hardcover books
and three journals, in-
Arthur Evans is the director of the Wayne State University Press.
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