Stanley Hochman, editor of reference, and a translator of European literature and nonfiction, died at home of natural causes on August 10. He was 89.
Hochman’s final editorial position was as senior editor at the former Frederick Ungar Publishing Company, which was acquired by Continuum Publishing in 1985 and subsequently absorbed into Bloomsbury Press. Earlier in his career, he had held editorial positions at McGraw Hill, Walker and Company, and several industrial trade magazines.
Hochman was also a translator from both French and Italian literature. Along with his wife, Eleanor, he edited Kettridge’s French/English English/French Dictionary, a fully Americanized update of the British reference work from the 1940s and 50s. Published first in 1968 by the New American Library, the revised Kettridge’s dictionary reached its third major edition in 1992.
Among his translations of French fiction were (also with Eleanor) Emile Zola’s Germinal (New American Library, 1970); Jules Renard’s Poil de Carotte & Other Plays (Ungar, 1977); and Simon Signoret’s Adieu Volodya (Random House, 1986). He also translated a wide range of French film criticism and other nonfiction. His major translation from Italian was Vitaliano Brancati’s postwar classic Bell’Antonio (Ungar, 1978).
He is survived by Eleanor, his son, David, and two grandsons.
