cover image One Man's America

One Man's America

Henry Grunwald. Doubleday Books, $30 (672pp) ISBN 978-0-385-41408-1

Grunwald's life story is the stuff American dreams are made of. Forced to flee his native Vienna as the Nazis stepped up their persecution of the Jews, Grunwald, aged 15, and his family landed in New York in 1940. Although not penniless refugees, they had to scramble to make ends meet. After high school, Grunwald attended New York University, changed his major from journalism to philosophy, was declared 4F by the army and graduated in June 1944. He joined Time magazine as a copy boy and began a ride up the ranks that would land him the top spot not only at Time as managing editor, but also as editor in chief of all of Time Inc. publications. As his career progressed, he came in contact with, and befriended, many of the world's most powerful men and women. His autobiography is filled with his impressions of such people as Fidel Castro, John Kennedy, Richard Nixon and Ronald and Nancy Reagan. Grunwald's friendship with Nancy Reagan helped him cap his career with his appointment as ambassador to Austria in 1988, a position he served in for two years. Although his story is dominated by his career (he acknowledges that his job came first and family second), Grunwald discusses the major events in his personal life, including the death of his first wife from cancer and his remarriage to a woman several years his junior. Written in a crisp style that moves seamlessly from event to event, this is an absorbing account of a fascinating life. (Jan.) FYI: New Year's Eve, the most recent novel by Lisa Grunwald, the author's daughter, was reviewed in Forecasts on Oct. l4.