Jayne Anne Phillips spoke with Narrative about her beloved editor and friend, Seymour “Sam” Lawrence (1927–1994). Passionately committed to writers and writing, Lawrence discovered and championed many remarkable authors, including Susan Minot, Jim Harrison, Richard Brautigan, Kurt Vonnegut, William Styron, Katherine Anne Porter, William Saroyan, Frank Conroy, Miguel Angel Asturias, Tom McGuane, Tom Drury, Richard Currey, and Pablo Neruda. A legendary old-school editor, he hand-sold his authors to publishers and booksellers, a kind of personal touch all but vanished from publishing today.
