6.24.25
Citing the recently published book Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer’s Legendary Editorship (Amistad, 2025) by Dana A. Williams, Clint Smith writes for the Atlantic about how Toni Morrison transformed publishing as an editor at Random House. Smith writes: “How Morrison handled the pressures of wielding her one-of-a-kind influence is fascinating—and, in retrospect, telling: As an editor, she was not just tenacious, but also always aware of how tenuous progress in the field could be…. Morrison’s mode was to be relentlessly demanding—of herself, her authors, and her Random House colleagues. She tailored her rigorous style to the varied array of Black writers she didn’t hesitate to pitch to her bosses.”