Betty Prashker, Trailblazing Feminist Publisher, Passes Away at 99

Betty Prashker, a pioneering editor, championed feminist literature like 'Sexual Politics' and 'Backlash,' shaping the publishing world and women's rights advocacy.

on Aug 12, 2024

Betty Prashker, Trailblazing Feminist Publisher, Passes Away at 99

Betty Prashker, a groundbreaking editor of the 20th century who played a pivotal role in publishing influential feminist works like Kate Millett's "Sexual Politics" and Susan Faludi's "Backlash," passed away on July 30 at the age of 99. Prashker's daughter, Lucy Prashker, confirmed her death at the family home in Alford, Massachusetts, without specifying a cause.

Throughout her career, Prashker held key executive positions at Crown and Doubleday, now part of Penguin Random House. Tina Constable, a Penguin Random House executive, credited Prashker with shaping Crown Publishing as we know it and championing the advancement of women in the publishing industry.

Born Betty Arnoff in New York City, Prashker was a lifelong book enthusiast who graduated from Vassar College. After starting as a reader-receptionist at Doubleday in 1945, she married labor lawyer Herbert Prashker in 1950 and took a decade off to raise their three children. She returned to work during the feminist movement of the 1960s, eventually rising to the position of associate publisher.

Prashker's influence in the publishing world was far-reaching. In the late 1960s, she discovered Kate Millett, a Columbia University graduate student whose Ph.D. dissertation on women's representation in Western literature became the cornerstone feminist work, "Sexual Politics." She also published numerous bestsellers, including Erik Larson's "The Devil in the White City" and Jean Auel's "The Clan of the Cave Bear" series.

In the 1990s, Prashker continued to break new ground, acquiring Susan Faludi's "Backlash: The Undeclared War Against Women," which had been rejected by several other publishers. Faludi later described Prashker as a feminist pioneer and the only person interested in her book.

Prashker's legacy extended beyond publishing. She made legal history in the 1970s when she challenged the male-only policy of the Century Club, an elite gathering space in Manhattan. Although initially rejected, her efforts contributed to the club's eventual desegregation in the mid-1980s. Despite the club's reversal, Prashker chose not to reapply, famously citing Groucho Marx's quip about not wanting to join a club that would have him as a member.

Betty Prashker's impact on the literary world and her advocacy for women's rights will be remembered for generations to come.