Full Name Lionel Simon Role Author Name Lyle Stuart | Occupation Publisher, author Nationality American Organization Barricade Books | |
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Born August 11, 1922 New York Spouse(s) Mary Louise Stuart (????–1969)
Carole Livingston Stuart (1982–2006; his death) Died June 24, 2006, New Jersey, United States Residence Fort Lee, New Jersey, United States Books The Secret Life of Walter Wi, Lyle Stuart on Baccarat, God Wears a Bow Tie: A Novel o, Casino Gambling for the Wi, Winning at Casino Gambling | ||
Lyle Stuart (August 11, 1922 – June 24, 2006) was an American author and independent publisher of controversial books. Born Lionel Simon on August 11, 1922, Stuart worked as a newsman for years before launching his publishing firm, Lyle Stuart, Incorporated.
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A former part-owner of the original Aladdin Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Stuart was also a noted gambling authority, who advised casinos on how to protect themselves from cheats and cons. A garrulous raconteur, he had a wide circle of friends, freely admitting to a lively sex life and, as expected of a gambling authority and a former partial casino owner, he was fond of gambling, with baccarat and craps being his games of choice. His gambling bestsellers were Casino Gambler for the Winner, Winning at Casino Gambling, and Lyle Stuart on Baccarat. He boasted, in Casino Gambler for the Winner, of having won $166,505 in ten consecutive visits to Las Vegas.
Lyle Stuart, Inc.
The publishing firm for which Stuart was best known, Lyle Stuart, Inc., was founded in 1955 with the proceeds of a lawsuit settlement. It was known for publishing books such as The Sensuous Woman. The company was sold in 1988 to developer Steven Schragis, who started Carol Publishing. But in 2000, Carol Publishing filed for bankruptcy and was itself sold to the Kensington Publishing Corporation.
Barricade Books
Stuart made headlines in 1997 with his then-current Barricade Books, by reissuing The Turner Diaries, a novel thought to have been the inspiration behind Timothy McVeigh's bombing of the Murrah building. He was a strong advocate of freedom of the press, and believed it was important for people to be able to read and make up their own minds. (In the introduction he wrote to his reissue of The Turner Diaries, he made clear how strongly he opposed the viewpoint expressed in the book.) Also in the 1990s, casino mogul Steve Wynn sued Stuart over catalog copy. The copy on Running Scared, a biography of Wynn, made reference to a New Scotland Yard report that tied the Las Vegas tycoon to the Genovese Crime Family. (The book refuted some of the report's findings.) Stuart lost the libel case and was ordered to pay three million dollars in defamation, forcing him into bankruptcy. This judgment was overturned on appeal by the Nevada Supreme Court in 2001 and sent back for a new trial, which Wynn chose not to pursue.
The Walter Winchell feud
Stuart had first gained national notoriety by taking on the powerful newspaper columnist Walter Winchell in a series of scathing magazine articles, collected in book form in 1953. After serving with the United States Merchant Marine and the Air Transport Command in World War II, he worked for William Randolph Hearst's International News Service, Variety, Music Business, and RTW Scout.
In 1951, he launched a monthly tabloid named Exposé (name later changed to The Independent) designed to publish those stories and articles that others would not have dared publish because they might have offended subscribers or advertisers. Contributors included Upton Sinclair, Norman Mailer, George Seldes, Ted O. Thackrey and John Steinbeck.
EC Comics
In the early 1950s, he was the business manager of the EC Comics line published by Bill Gaines, a close friend.
In 1956, with $8,000 of the money he collected from libel actions against Walter Winchell, Confidential, ABC-TV, and Editor & Publisher, he began his publishing company, Lyle Stuart, Inc., of which, as noted above, Kensington Books subsequently acquired ownership.
Personal life
Stuart's first wife, Mary Louise Stuart, died in 1969. He married Carole Livingston Stuart in 1982 and they were married until his death on June 24, 2006 at age 83.
Though born into a Jewish family, Stuart identified as an atheist.
Stuart, especially in his last years, was a resident of Fort Lee, New Jersey, where he died on June 24, 2006, at the age of 83.