Peter Collier (political author)

Peter Anthony Dale Collier (born June 2, 1939)^[1] is a writer and publisher based in California. He was the founding publisher of Encounter Books in California and held that position from 1998 until he resigned in 2005. The company moved from San Francisco to New York City, and Collier was replaced as publisher by Roger Kimball. He continues as a consultant to the company.^[2]

Initially allied with liberal causes, Collier has moved right and collaborated with conservative writer David Horowitz on many projects over many decades, notably as co-editor of Ramparts;^[3] and publishing articles on Horowitz's FrontPageMagazine.com.

He has served as a co-author with Horowitz on several history and critical books (including The Anti-Chomsky Reader (2004)). He was a co-founder with Horowitz of the Center for the Study of Popular Culture. Collier was a co-organizer of the Second Thoughts conferences for ex-leftists who had moved to the right.

Life

He was born in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, earning a B.A. in English in 1961. He served as a civil rights activist in the South in 1964.

Returning to California, Collier taught Freshman English at UC Berkeley from 1964 to 1969. He became literary editor of Ramparts Magazine in 1967. He served as editor of that magazine from 1968 to 1972 along with David Horowitz, whom he had become acquainted with at Berkeley in the late 1950s. In 1968, he signed the "Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" pledge vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.^[4] He returned to UC Berkeley as a Lecturer in Creative Writing from 1978 to 1981.

Collier has contributed reviews to various publications.^[5][6][7] He is on the editorial board of World Affairs, a quarterly international affairs journal.^[8]

Collier is a fellow of the National Endowment of the Arts (1980). He lectured abroad for the United States Information Service in 1980, 1987, and 1998.

Collier lives with his family in Nevada City, California.^[9]

Publications

Co authored

With David Horowitz:

• The Rockefellers: An American Dynasty Summit Books (1979) ISBN 978-0671677886
• The Kennedys: An American Drama Encounter Books (1984) ISBN 1893554317
• The Fords: An American Epic Encounter Books (1987) ISBN 1893554325
• Destructive Generation Encounter Books (1989) ISBN 1594030820
• Deconstructing the Left: From Vietnam to the Clinton Era ISBN 978-0819183156
• The Roosevelts: An American Saga Simon & Schuster (1994) ISBN 978-0684801407
• The Heterodoxy Handbook: How to Survive the PC Campus (editor and contributor) Regnery Publishing (1994) ISBN 978-0895267313
• The Race Card: White Guilt, Black Resentment, and the Assault on Truth and Justice (editor and contributor) Prima Lifestyles (1997) ISBN 978-0761509424
• The Anti-Chomsky Reader Encounter Books (2004)) ISBN 978-1893554979

Novels

• Downriver Dell Pub Co (1978) ISBN 978-0440118305

Non fiction

• When Shall They Rest? The Cherokees' Long Struggle with America Dell Publishing (1975) ISBN 978-0440993414
• Second Thoughts: Former Radicals Look Back at the Sixties (editor) Madison Books (1989) ISBN 978-0819171474
• Second Thoughts About Race in America (editor) Madison Books (1991) ISBN 978-0819182432
• The Fondas: A Hollywood Dynasty Berkley Books (1992) ISBN 978-0425131848
• Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty Book and Multimedia DVD with photography by Nick Del Calzo Artis (2003) ISBN 1579653146
• Political Woman: The Big Little Life of Jeane Kirkpatrick Encounter Books (2012) ISBN 978-1594036040

Other

• The King's Giraffe children's tale with Mary Jo Collier. Stephane Poulin (Illustrator) Simon & Schuster Books (1996) ISBN 978-0689806797

His short fiction has appeared in Triquarterly, Canto, the Seattle Review, and the Missouri Review.

References

External links

• Appearances on C-SPAN
  • Booknotes interview with Collier on The Roosevelts: An American Saga, August 7, 1994.
• Peter Collier (political author) at Goodreads