The Man from Essence (BOOK REVIEW)
The Man from Essence
by Edward Lewis with Audrey Edwards
Foreword by Camille O. Cosby
Atria Books
Hardcover, $25.00
374 pages, Illustrated
ISBN: 978-1-4767-0348-0
Book
Review by Kam Williams
“I
know what they say about me—that I am too quiet and low-key, unassuming, even
clueless. Not the one you’d expect to be the last man standing after the smoke
has cleared and the body count taken. Yet here I am, in the position to tell a
remarkable story as the only cofounder remaining on the masthead of a
multimillion-dollar magazine I helped launch more than forty years ago with
three other black businessmen…
The
story starts in struggle with… trying to turn a business idea into a profitable
magazine amid turmoil from within and racism from without… The story ends… when
that magazine was sold 35 years later to the largest publishing company in the
world for the highest cost-per-page… in history.”
--
Excerpted from the Introduction (pages xv-xxii)
White from head to
toe (including his trademark trench coat and even his hair), The Man from Glad was
the iconic plastic wrap pitchman first introduced to TV viewers in 1965. Four
years later, undeniably black Edward Lewis, The Man from Essence, was a member
of the quartet of African-American visionaries launching a bold, new periodical
billed as “The magazine for today's black woman."
Despite the irony of
four brothers being behind a publication aimed at sisters, the periodical
proved phenomenally popular, soon blossoming into the premiere beauty and
fashion magazine for its target demographic. And over the intervening decades
the Essence brand has been extended to include an annual Fourth of July weekend
cultural festival featuring everything from musical concerts to empowerment
seminars.
However, the magazine
has also experienced considerable behind-the-scenes turmoil, and much of that
drama is the subject of The Man from Essence, a revealing memoir written by Mr.
Lewis with the assistance of his former executive editor, Audrey Edwards. Inter
alia, we learn that the four founders had no experience in the field of
publishing, yet ultimately managed to flourish in part because they had
identified a need just begging to be addressed.
But that path would
be no cakewalk, since it took big bucks to underwrite their daring adventure,
and banks were initially rather reluctant to invest in such a fledgling
operation. Nevertheless, Lewis describes himself as being “nearly in tears as I
stood onstage looking out at the audience in New Orleans’ colossal Superdome” during the
maiden Essence Musical Festival in 1995.
He also talks, here, about
the historic sale of 49% of the company’s stock to Time, Inc. in 2000, as well
as the balance of the shares in 2005. In that passage he further recounts how
the magazine’s legendary editor-in-chief, Susan L. Taylor, and other
suddenly-disgruntled staff members began issuing demands in a n avaricious
attempt to share in the windfall profits deservedly earned by the magazine’s
creators.
Lewis felt hurt after
being labeled a “sellout” for handing the reigns of Essence to a media giant
which might strip the cherished black institution of its “soul.” Still, the
author got the last laugh, all the way to the bank, since the magazine has thus
far remained fairly faithful to its founding principles.
A fascinating case
study about how a solid work ethic enabled a poor kid from the NYC slums to
prevail in his dogged pursuit of the American Dream.
To order a copy of The Man from Essence, visit:
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