For 35 years, William Shawn has presided over his domain like a benevolent father. A shy man of gentle reason, he created a familial haven for some of the country's best writers to do their finest work in. Harold Ross founded The New Yorker in 1925, but it was Mr. Shawn, as he is invariably called, who turned the magazine into a forum for serious reportage and polished fiction while retaining its breezy urbanity. Both magazine and man became institutions of sorts: The New Yorker as an elite but powerful voice in the worlds of literature and journalism, Shawn as the...
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