THE FRONT OF THE BOOK
“The Front of the Book,” in Newsweek magazine parlance, meant the Nation and International sections (and maybe business), whereas the Arts, Lifestyle, etc., was simply “The Back of the Book.” At the helm of the visuals for Nation was Guy Cooper, photo editor extraordinaire. International visuals rested on my laurels. Together, for a couple of decades, when photojournalism mattered, we were quite the dynamic duo.
In the 1970s and 1980s, pre-digital, pre-cell phones, pre-everything, when newsworthy moments were handled using landline phones and telexes, and beating the weekly deadline usually involved the hand carrying of “film” from somewhere in the world where news was breaking, back to New York. This required creative thinking, meticulous planning and definitely a sense of humor when you had to make changes on the fly. Guy Cooper had all of those qualities.
He was a Photo Editor’s photo editor. You knew when a story was in Guy’s hands, it was going to get done, and done well. And usually, along the way, there would be several good jokes and many libations when the job was done. But it wasn’t always easy.
When Guy was first hired in the late 1970s, he sometimes felt out of place, not knowing “everything” that you’re expected to know about your section. In 1979, while in the office of Nation wordside editor, Stephen Shepard, someone burst in and announced that Thurman Munson had died. (Not saying Thurman Munson of the New York Yankees…just Thurman Munson) Shepard, being a huge baseball fan, cried out, “Oh my God, what are the Yankees going to do?” Cooper was totally mystified and immediately went upstairs and mistakenly started pulling together an obit for Strom Thurmond, the octogenarian US Senator, while not understanding what he had to do with the Yankees!
Guy was a team player, loved by all in the photo department. Those who knew him well also knew he was a very talented musician. His fingers moved along the frets of a guitar neck as easily as they did slinging slides across a lightbox. When the two of us edited together, the scene better resembled two croupiers in Las Vegas rather than two photo editors deftly separating the “INS” from the “OUTS.” Guy was part of a band called “The (Mighty) Love Handles” (how apt), a group of journalism industry musicians who I was very proud to have opened for at a Newsweek Christmas party one year at “Le Bar Bat” in Manhattan.
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Guy was born in London, started his career at the BBC and Camera Press and Contact Press Images before landing at Newsweek, where he flourished until the 2000s, when he retired with his wife Leila and son George in upstate New York. Leila passed in 2019, and after, I had a chance to visit him at his home in the Catskills and proceeded to have way too many sakes while sharing Newsweek stories at his favorite local Japanese restaurant. It resulted in the selfie published here, which I will always cherish.
Newsweek: The Front of the Book…reporting. RIP, my dear friend Guy. You mattered!
