Paying Tribute to Richard Lingeman—Longtime Executive Editor and a Quiet Force at The Nation for More Than Three Decades

Richard Lingeman, longtime executive editor of The Nation magazine, died on July 5 at age 95. He served as executive editor for over three decades, known for his quiet demeanor but masterful editing and writing. Born in Indiana, Lingeman was renowned for tightening prose and improving arguments of writers. He authored acclaimed biographies of Sinclair Lewis and Theodore Dreiser, studies of small-town America and WWII home front, and 'The Noir Forties.' Colleagues remember him as a kind, patient humanist who worked with a vintage typewriter and had a telepathic working relationship with editor Victor Navasky. He also compiled collections of Gore Vidal and Kurt Vonnegut writings for the magazine. His final book explored the cultural and political context of film noir in the 1940s.