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William Katz

William Katz grew up in New York City and its suburbs, a devoted fan of Lionel trains and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

He attended the University of Chicago and the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia. While at Chicago he was a campaign aide to Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois. While at Columbia he met Marilyn Monroe. Hail Columbia. 

He entered the CIA, and directly participated in the Cuban Missile Crisis. After a stint in the U.S. Army he served on the staff of the Hudson Institute, working with the nuclear-war theorist, Herman Kahn. 

Then he went to The New York Times, first as an assistant to the associate editor and later as an editor at The New York Times Magazine. It was there that he decided to become an independent writer. He started writing sketches for Bob Newhart, then became a talent coordinator for The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

He has written 10 novels, published in many languages. His best-known, "Surprise Party," is in 54 editions. He has been published by Reader's Digest Condensed Books, the Literary Guild, and a number of foreign book clubs. Some of his novels have been placed in Hollywood, from which they have never recovered.

He is married to a teacher, and has two daughters, neither of whom agree with him on anything.


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