Henry Carlisle was born in 1926. He began his publishing career in New York as an editor at Knopf in 1954. He wrote several novels including Voyage to the First of December, The Idealists, The Jonah Man, The Somers Mutiny, and The Contract. He was elected President of PEN America in 1976. He died of complications from pneumonia on July 12, 2011 at the age of 84.