James D. Hornfischer
Encyclopedia
James D. Hornfischer is an American literary agent
and naval historian
.
A former editor at the publishing company HarperCollins
in New York, Hornfischer is president of Hornfischer Literary Management, a literary agency in Austin
, Texas
.
, is president of Hornfischer Literary Management, a literary agency in Austin
, Texas
, that represents authors of nonfiction books in a variety of subject areas, including current affairs, history, politics, biography, business, and popular science, among others. Clients include David Bellavia
, James Bradley
, H. W. Brands, Fred Burton
, Susannah Charleson, Brandon Friedman
, George Friedman
, William H. Goetzmann
, Don Graham, James L. Haley
, Woody Holton
, Annie Jacobsen
, Governor Rick Perry, Ron Powers
, Roy Spence
, Barrett Tillman
, and others. He is a member of the Authors Guild and the Texas Institute of Letters
, and serves on the advisory board of the The Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, sponsored by the Mayborn Graduate School of Journalism at the University of North Texas
. He has written for Smithsonian, the Wall Street Journal, and other periodicals.
, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated with high honors in German
. He received a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin
in 2001.
Literary agent
A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers and film producers and assists in the sale and deal negotiation of the same. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwriters and major non-fiction writers...
and naval historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
.
A former editor at the publishing company HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
in New York, Hornfischer is president of Hornfischer Literary Management, a literary agency in Austin
Austin
Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas.Austin may also refer to:-In the United States:*Austin, Arkansas*Austin, Colorado*Austin, Chicago, Illinois*Austin, Indiana*Austin, Minnesota*Austin, Nevada*Austin, Oregon...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
Professional Background
Hornfischer, a non-practicing member of the State Bar of TexasState Bar of Texas
The State Bar of Texas is an agency of the judiciary under the administrative control of the Texas Supreme Court. The Texas Bar is responsible for assisting the Texas Supreme Court in overseeing all attorneys licensed to practice law in Texas...
, is president of Hornfischer Literary Management, a literary agency in Austin
Austin
Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas.Austin may also refer to:-In the United States:*Austin, Arkansas*Austin, Colorado*Austin, Chicago, Illinois*Austin, Indiana*Austin, Minnesota*Austin, Nevada*Austin, Oregon...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, that represents authors of nonfiction books in a variety of subject areas, including current affairs, history, politics, biography, business, and popular science, among others. Clients include David Bellavia
David Bellavia
David Bellavia is an American Iraq War veteran who was awarded the Silver Star for his actions during the Second Battle of Fallujah. Bellavia has also received the Bronze Star, three Army Commendation Medals, two Army Achievement Medals and the New York State Conspicuous Service Cross...
, James Bradley
James Bradley (author)
James Bradley is an American author, specializing in historical nonfiction chronicling the Pacific theatre of World War II. His father, John Bradley, was one of six men who became famous for being photographed raising the American flag on Mt. Suribachi...
, H. W. Brands, Fred Burton
Fred Burton
Fred Burton is Stratfor's vice president for intelligence, and is considered "one of the world's foremost experts on security, terrorists and terrorist organizations."Burton was a special agent with the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service....
, Susannah Charleson, Brandon Friedman
Brandon Friedman
Brandon Friedman is a writer, veteran, and civil servant who has worked on issues concerning America’s military and veterans communities. He is the author of the combat memoir The War I Always Wanted and works for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs...
, George Friedman
George Friedman
George Friedman is an American political scientist and author. He is the founder, chief intelligence officer, financial overseer, and CEO of the private intelligence corporation Stratfor...
, William H. Goetzmann
William H. Goetzmann
William H. Goetzmann was an award-winning historian and emeritus professor in the American Studies and American Civilization Programs at the University of Texas at Austin. He attended Yale University as a graduate student and was friends with Tom Wolfe while there...
, Don Graham, James L. Haley
James L. Haley
James L. Haley is an American author and historian who has written numerous books on Texas and Western history, as well as several fiction novels. Haley grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, attended L. D. Bell High School in Hurst, Texas, and graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a...
, Woody Holton
Woody Holton
Abner Linwood "Woody" Holton, III is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Richmond in Virginia and is a member of the Richmond Research Institute.-Life:He is a graduate of the University of Virginia and received his PhD from Duke University....
, Annie Jacobsen
Annie Jacobsen
Annie Jacobsen is an American journalist who writes about business, finance and terrorism for a variety of national and international magazines and webzines and, in particular the Los Angeles Times Magazine....
, Governor Rick Perry, Ron Powers
Ron Powers
Ron Powers is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, novelist, and non-fiction writer. His face include White Town Drowsing: Journeys to Hannibal, Dangerous Water: A Biography of the Boy Who Became Mark Twain, and Mark Twain: A Life...
, Roy Spence
Roy Spence
Roy Spence is the chairman, CEO, and co-founder of the advertising agency GSD&M Idea City and author of the books The Amazing Faith of Texas and It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For: Why Every Extraordinary Business Is Driven By Purpose.-Early life:Roy was born in Brownwood, Texas in 1948...
, Barrett Tillman
Barrett Tillman
Barrett Tillman is an American author who specializes in naval and aviation topics in addition to fiction and technical writing.Tillman's most influential book to date is On Yankee Station , written with the late John B. Nichols...
, and others. He is a member of the Authors Guild and the Texas Institute of Letters
Texas Institute of Letters
The Texas Institute of Letters is an organization devoted to the promotion of literature and literacy in Texas.Founded in 1936, the TIL offers awards to outstanding books written by Texas authors, or dealing with Texas subjects. The TIL also co-administrates the Dobie Paisano Fellowship, which...
, and serves on the advisory board of the The Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, sponsored by the Mayborn Graduate School of Journalism at the University of North Texas
University of North Texas
The University of North Texas is a public institution of higher education and research in Denton. Founded in 1890, UNT is part of the University of North Texas System. As of the fall of 2010, the University of North Texas, Denton campus, had a certified enrollment of 36,067...
. He has written for Smithsonian, the Wall Street Journal, and other periodicals.
Books
- The Last Stand of the Tin Can SailorsThe Last Stand of the Tin Can SailorsThe nonfiction book The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour is the first full narrative account of the Battle off Samar, which author James D. Hornfischer calls the greatest upset in the history of naval warfare...
: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour (BantamBantam BooksBantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...
hardcover, 2004; BantamBantam BooksBantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...
trade paperback, 2005) ISBN 0-553-80257-7
- Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors (BantamBantam BooksBantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...
hardcover, 2006; BantamBantam BooksBantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...
trade paperback, 2007). ISBN 0-553-80390-5
- Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal (BantamBantam BooksBantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...
hardcover, 2011). ISBN 978-0553-80670-0
Awards
- Samuel Eliot MorisonSamuel Eliot MorisonSamuel Eliot Morison, Rear Admiral, United States Naval Reserve was an American historian noted for his works of maritime history that were both authoritative and highly readable. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912, and taught history at the university for 40 years...
Award from the Naval Order of the United States, for The Last Stand of the Tin Can SailorsThe Last Stand of the Tin Can SailorsThe nonfiction book The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour is the first full narrative account of the Battle off Samar, which author James D. Hornfischer calls the greatest upset in the history of naval warfare... - United States Maritime Literature Award, for Ship of Ghosts
In the media
- Wall Street Journal review of Neptune's Inferno
- Interview with James D. Hornfischer at the Pritzker Military Library
- Publishers Weekly: "Writing About War: This Time It's Personal"
- USA Today review of Ship of Ghosts
- Rocky Mountain News review of Ship of Ghosts
Education
Hornfischer is a 1987 graduate of Colgate UniversityColgate University
Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York, USA. The school was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary and later became non-denominational. It is named for the Colgate family who greatly contributed to the university's endowment in the 19th century.Colgate has 52...
, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated with high honors in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. He received a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin
Austin
Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas.Austin may also refer to:-In the United States:*Austin, Arkansas*Austin, Colorado*Austin, Chicago, Illinois*Austin, Indiana*Austin, Minnesota*Austin, Nevada*Austin, Oregon...
in 2001.