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�f there ’ s ahidebound stereotype of the white-haired , patrician book publisher , Lisa Lucas couldn ’ t be further from it . �arlier this year , she became both the first Black and the first female publisher of the Pantheon and Schocken imprints at the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group — and , at �1 , one of the youngest . These are the storied imprints that brought works bySimone de Beauvoir and Studs Terkel to critical and commercial success . Now , Lucas will be looking through adifferent lens to add breakout writers to their lists .
Lucas ’ prior stint as executive director of the National Book Foundation was also groundbreaking . There , too , the former Montclair resident was the first woman and first Black person to head the nonprofit . She was widely praised for her work hosting the prestigious National Book Awards and for overseeing the group ’ smany literary and educational programs .
Her accomplishments there caught the attention of Knopf publisher Reagan Arthur . A20-year resident of Montclair herself , Arthur had met Lucas years earlier at the Montclair home of Reggie Lucas , Lisa ’ s father , who hosted an annual New �ear ’ s Day party . The ja�� guitarist , songwriter and producer , who died in 2018 , played with Miles Davis and helped launch Madonna ’ s career , writing her first top-ten single and producing her first album . He also taught the history ofAmerican pop at Montclair State �niversity .
COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION
10 SPRING 2021 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE