Pascal Avram "Pat" Covici was a Romanian Jewish-American book publisher and editor, best known for his close associations with authors such as John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, and many more noted American literary figures, many through his position at Viking Press.
Early life
Covici, known to his friends as "kai," was born November 4, 1885 in Botoșani, Kingdom of Romania. He was the son of vintner Wolf Covici and Schifra Barish. At the age of twelve, his family immigrated to Chicago where his six brothers owned and managed a number of retail stores. He studied at the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago, but he did not graduate from either school. Afterwards, he worked at his brothers' stores.
Early publishing career
For several years, he published a monthly newspaper in Bradenton, Florida. In 1922, together with partner Billy McGee, he started a publishing company and bookstore in Chicago. The store became a popular spot for writers, the company published special, limited edition books, often created for collectors. Ben Hecht's 1922 novel, Fantazius Mallare, published by the firm, was labeled obscene and was restricted and confiscated by post office officials. Hecht, the illustrator Wallace Smith, and the publishers were arrested, pleaded no contest, and had to pay a fine of $1,000. In 1928 he published The Wild Party by Joseph Moncure March. The poem was considered lewd and was banned in places like Boston.
New firm and controversy
When McGee left the company in connection to health issues in 1924, Covici continued to publish under Pascal Covici, Inc. Several years later, he began a firm with Donald Friede in New York City. The play The Front Page by Hecht and Charles MacArthur and the novelThe Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall garnered the company quick success. The Well of Loneliness was seized from Covici-Friede's offices after Friede sold a copy to John Saxton Sumner of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice but the New York Court of Special Sessions cleared the book of charges of obscenity. In addition to writers like Gene Fowler, Wyndham Lewis, Clifford Odets, and Nathanael West, their key author was John Steinbeck whom they signed in 1934. They published Tortilla Flat in 1935 and other new and reprinted Steinbeck works. Covici-Friede failed in 1938; in 1943, Crown Publishing purchased the firm's assets.
Covici died October 14, 1964. His relationship with John Steinbeck is portrayed in the book Steinbeck and Covici: The Story of a Friendship, edited by Thomas Fensch.
