Robert Emmett Ginna Jr

Robert Emmett Ginna Jr. (b. 1925) is a retired magazine reporter and editor, a film producer and screenwriter, and a Harvard faculty member. He co-founded People magazine, served as its first editor, and later was Editor-in-Chief of Little Brown.

Early life
Ginna was born to Robert Emmett Ginna, a Rochester Gas and Electric executive, and his wife, the former Margaret McCall, both descended from Irish immigrants. Ginna and his father were named for Robert Emmett, an Irish revolutionary who was executed by British authorities in 1803. After an admission to Harvard College, Ginna enlisted in the Navy at age 17, serving in the Pacific during World War Two. He graduated from the University of Rochester in 1948, and went on to get a Master's in Art History from Harvard University.

Career
In his early career, Ginna worked as a reporter and editor for Horizon, Life, and Scientific American. His article "Have We Visitors From Space?" appeared in the April 7, 1952 edition of Life magazine. In 1955, Ginna interviewed Sean O'Casey for NBC television; A decade later, Ginna would produce a film about O'Casey. In 1960, Ginna interviewed filmmaker Stanley Kubrick for Horizon.

In February 1962, Ginnna authored "Life in the Afternoon", an essay about meeting Ernest Hemingway in 1958 Cuba.

During the 1960s, Ginna was a screeenwriter and film producer. Ginna worked with famous filmmaker John Ford on the film Young Cassidy, but Ford had to be replaced mid-shoot.

In 1974, Ginna co-founded People magazine and served as its first Editor-in-Chief. From 1977 to 1980, Ginna was the Editor-in-Chief of Little Brown Publishing ; In that role, he was influential in writer James Salter's switch from screenplays to novels.

From 1988 to 2002, Ginna served on the faculty of Harvard University, teaching writing and filmmaking. In 2003, Ginna authored The Irish Way: A Walk Through Ireland's Past and Present.

In 2006, Ginna was profiled for his role in creating an academic press at New England College.

Selected works

 * "Our Man from New York Observes Carol Reed Directing 'Our Man in Havana' " Horizon, Nov. 1959
 * "Life in the afternoon : Ernest Hemingway, some quiet conversations regarding fishing, writing, war, bars, wine, hunting, and so on" (1962) Esquire Magazine
 * FDR (1963) with Roger Butterfield and Robert D. Graff
 * "Talking to Sean O’Casey on American Television" (1974)
 * "In Search of 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'" (2002)
 * The Irish Way: A Walk Through Ireland's Past and Present (2003)

Producer

 * Brotherly Love (1970)
 * Before Winter Comes (1969)
 * Young Cassidy (1965)
 * The Flood (1962)

Screenplays

 * The Last Challenge (1967)
 * World Wide '60 (1960)

Personal life
Ginna married Margaret Williams; The pair had two children. She died in 2004. In 2017, their son dedicated his book What Editors Do to his parents. After his wife's death, Ginna was the companion of journalist Gail Sheehy, who died in 2020 at the age of 83.