Gene Stone

Early life and editorial career

After graduating from Stanford and getting his masters in English Literature from Harvard, Stone (b. 1951) joined the Peace Corps, where he spent two years in the Republic of Niger. Returning to his home state of New York, he then started a career as an editor. He began at Harcourt Brace, where he edited a wide range of books, including Patricia Bosworth’s biography of Montgomery Clift. He then worked at Bantam Books, where he helped launch its hardcover division by acquiring such books as Albert Goldman’s biography of John Lennon and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s autobiography. Next, he worked as a senior editor at Esquire Magazine, editing authors ranging from Alan Furst and Bobbie Ann Mason to Michael Kinsley and Joel Kotkin. He then moved to Los Angeles, where he was West Coast editor of Simon and Schuster, a consulting editor at the Los Angeles Times, and editor in chief of California Magazine.

Writing career

In 1988 Stone began a career as a writer and ghostwriter. He has written extensively for magazines, including New York, Esquire, GQ, and Vogue, but eventually dedicated his livelihood to books. His first ghostwritten project was for the Nicaraguan politician Arturo Cruz, Jr., Memoirs of a Counter-Revolutionary (1988). Since then Stone has written more than thirty books with a diverse group of people, including theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, former Yahoo! Chief Solutions Officer Tim Sanders, medical director of Canyon Ranch Resorts Mark Liponis, CNN executive vice-president Gail Evans, and TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie (the number one New York Times bestseller Start Something That Matters). Stone has written a few other books under his own name, including the Washington Post number one bestseller The Bush Survival Bible (along with several other humor books), "Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick," which has been translated into more than twenty languages; and Little Girl Fly Away, which he co-produced as a television movie. Of these books, ten have been New York Times bestsellers. An avid watch collector, Stone appeared on CBS News Sunday Morning (October 29, 2006) discussing his book, The Watch, the definitive book of men's wristwatches. Stone serves on the board of several not-for-profit organizations, including Surgeons Over Seas (SOS), which saves lives in developing countries by improving surgical care, and Truth Wins Out (TWO), a non-profit think tank and educational organization that defends the GLBT community against anti-gay misinformation. Stone's most recent book, The Trump Survival Guide was published in January, 2017, by Dey St, an imprint of William Morrow, distributed by HarperCollins Publishers.

Plant-based writing

In 2006 Stone, a vegan, met firefighter Rip Esselstyn and the two of them collaborated on the hugely successful book about a low-fat, whole foods, plant-based diet, The Engine 2 Diet, which in turn was the basis of a product line at Whole Foods Market. They then co-wrote a sequel, My Beef With Meat, which was a #1 New York Times bestseller. Under his own name, Stone wrote the companion book to the documentary Forks Over Knives, a film which also explores plant-based diets. It was also a #1 New York Times bestseller. Stone has since written several other books on the subject, including Living the Farm Sanctuary Life: The Ultimate Guide to Eating Mindfully, Living Longer, and Feeling Better Every Day, co-authored with Farm Sanctuary President and Co-founder Gene Baur, which appeared on Publishers Weekly's bestsellers list. Stone is also the co-author, with Jon Doyle, of The Awareness, a novel about the day that all mammals gain human-like consciousness. Stone is currently working on three more plant-based or animal-rights books.

Works