Seymour Berkson (January 30, 1905 – January 5, 1959) was an American publisher.
Berkson was born to a Jewish family[1] in Chicago, Illinois, the son of immigrants who fled persecution in Russia.[2][3][4] His father worked as a tailor.[1] Berkson graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in political science.[1] He started his career as reporter for the Chicago Herald-Examiner[5] and worked his way through the ranks eventually becoming general manager of the International News Service[2][3] where he worked at their news bureaus in Rome and Paris.[5] He returned to the United States and accepted a position as the publisher for the New York Journal-American in New York City.[2][3]
Berkson served as chairman of the newspaper committee for Brotherhood Week, the national observance sponsored by the National Conference of Christians and Jews.[2]
Berkson married twice; he had a daughter, Barbara Berkson Coady (d. 1996), with his first wife, journalist Jane Eads (1901–1992), whom he met at the Chicago Herald-Examiner.[1][5][6] In 1936, he married fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert (1903–2003); they had one son, poet Bill Berkson (1939–2016).[7][8] He died on January 5, 1959, in New York City.[2][3]
It was not until adolescence, and only because of a shared love for poetry, that Bill Berkson learned that his father's side of the family was Jewish.
He was pre-deceased by his wife, Barbara (Berkson) Coady, who died in 1996.