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Clifton Paul Fadiman

クリフトン・ポール・フェイディマン

Kurifuton Pōru Fadiman

Pen Names: Kip（Familiar nickname）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1904-05-15 （Brooklyn, New York City, United States）
Died
1999-06-20 （Sanibel, Florida, United States） age 95
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Brooklyn, New York City → Captiva Island, Florida → Sanibel, Florida

Career

Occupations
intellectual, author, editor, radio and television personality, host
Active Years
1927-1998
Affiliations
Simon & Schuster, The New Yorker, Book of the Month Club, Cricket (magazine), CBS, NBC, ABC (television appearances)
Memberships
Book of the Month Club editorial board
Influenced By
Mark Van Doren (teacher), Contemporaries at Columbia University
Influenced
Anne Fadiman (daughter, writer), The model of the witty intellectual on American radio and television

Education

Columbia University (Columbia College)
College / Department of English
Degree: B.A.
Period: 1921–1925 (入学は1921、卒業は経済的事情で1925)
Year of Graduation: 1925
Country: United States
Graduated Phi Beta Kappa; graduation delayed for financial reasons.

Awards

Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: 受賞
Clarence Day Award
1969
Organization: American Library Association (ALA)
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Lifetime Reading Plan

1960 nonfiction / reading guide

A curated reading plan recommending classics and important works across disciplines for a lifetime of reading.

cultural literacyreading guidanceliterary education

The Mathematical Magpie (ed.)

1962 edited anthology

An anthology collecting essays and short pieces related to mathematics, exploring cultural and entertaining aspects of the subject.

mathematicsessayscultural literacy

Fantasia Mathematica (ed.)

1958 edited anthology / short fiction

An anthology of short fiction and pieces inspired by mathematics, combining entertainment with intellectual curiosity.

mathematicsshort fictionhumor

Bibliography

  • I Believe; the Personal Philosophies of Certain Eminent Men and Women of Our Time (1939)
  • Books Are Weapons in the War of Ideas (1942)
  • Party of One (1955)
  • Any Number Can Play (1957)
  • Fantasia Mathematica (ed.) (1958)
  • Lifetime Reading Plan (1960)
  • The Mathematical Magpie (ed.) (1962)
  • The Voyage of Ulysses (1959)
  • The Adventures of Hercules (1960)
  • The World Treasury of Children's Literature (ed.) (1984)

Adaptations

  • Information, Please! (radio program; briefly adapted to CBS television in 1952)
  • This Is Show Business (TV program, CBS 1949–1954)
  • The Name's the Same (TV program; guest host)

Translations by Author

  • Bloody Poet; a novel about Nero - by Dezső Kosztolányi (translation, 1927)
  • Ecce Homo and The Birth of Tragedy - Friedrich Nietzsche (translation, 1927)
  • The Man Who Conquered Death - Franz Werfel (translation, 1927)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
erudite essayistic stylelight, witty humoreditorial curation and commentary
Recurring Motifs
reading and cultural literacyhumor and witintersection of scholarship and popular culture

Health

  • pancreatic cancer
    晩年（1999年に死去）
    The illness was the cause of death. He lost his eyesight in his early 90s but continued to work by listening to recordings and dictating.
  • loss of eyesight (in his 90s)
    90代前半
    He became unable to read text directly but continued reviewing by listening to tapes and dictation.

Legacy

Fadiman became an exemplar of the cultivated commentator and host in 20th-century America. Through quiz shows, book reviewing, and editing anthologies, he influenced broad audiences; his selections and witty commentary helped popularize cultural literacy and guided generations of readers.

Academic Societies

  • Book of the Month Club (editorial board)

Archives

  • Columbia University archives (Clifton Fadiman papers)
  • Library of Congress - materials related to Clifton Fadiman

In Popular Culture

  • Often cited as a model of the witty intellectual figure in 1950s television culture.

Quotes

  • When you reread a classic, you do not see more in the book than you did before, you see more in you than there was before.
    Source: Attributed to Clifton Fadiman (widely quoted in essays and interviews)

Trivia

  • He became widely known as the host of the radio program Information, Please!
  • On The Name's the Same in 1955 he orchestrated presenting the real Hope Diamond on the show.
  • His daughter Anne Fadiman is also a prominent essayist and writer.