Introduction
Lyle Stuart (August 11, 1922 – June 24, 2006) was an American author and independent publisher of controversial books. Born Lionel Simon, Stuart worked as a newsman for years before launching his publishing firm, Lyle Stuart, Inc.
A former part-owner of the original Aladdin Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, he was a noted gambling authority, who advised casinos on how to protect themselves from cheats and cons. A garrulous raconteur, he had a wide circle of friends, freely admitting to a lively sex life and was fond of gambling, baccarat and craps, his games of choice. His gambling bestsellers are Casino Gambler for the Winner, Winning at Casino Gambling and Lyle Stuart on Baccarat. He boasted in Casino Gambler for the Winner that he'd won $166,505 in ten consecutive visits to Las Vegas.
Lyle Stuart, Inc.
Lyle Stuart, Inc. was founded in 1955 with the proceeds of a lawsuit settlement. It was known for publishing books such as The Sensuous Woman. The company was sold in 1988 to developer Steven Schragis, who started Carol Publishing. Carol Publishing filed for bankruptcy and was sold to Kensington Publishing in 2000.
Barricade Books
He made headlines in 1997 with his then-current Barricade Books, by reissuing The Turner Diaries, a novel thought to have been the inspiration behind Timothy McVeigh's bombing of the Murrah building. He was a strong advocate of freedom of the press, and believed it was important for people to be able to read and make up their own minds (in the introduction he wrote to his reissue of The Turner Diaries, he made clear how strongly he opposed the viewpoint expressed in the book). Also in the 1990s, casino mogul Steve Wynn sued Stuart over catalog copy. The copy on Running Scared, a biography of Wynn, made reference to a New Scotland Yard report that tied the Las Vegas tycoon to the Genovese Crime Family. (The book refuted some of the report's findings.) Stuart lost the libel case and was ordered to pay three million dollars in defamation, forcing him into bankruptcy. This judgment was overturned on appeal by the Nevada Supreme Court in 2001 and sent back for a new trial, which Wynn chose not to pursue.
Walter Winchell feud
Stuart first gained national notoriety by taking on the powerful newspaper columnist Walter Winchell in a series of scathing magazine articles, collected in book form in 1953. After serving with the United States Merchant Marine and the Air Transport Command in World War II, he worked for William Randolph Hearst's International News Service, Variety, Music Business and RTW Scout.
In 1951, he launched a monthly tabloid named Exposé (name later changed to The Independent) designed to publish those stories and articles that others wouldn’t dare publish because they might offend subscribers or advertisers. Contributors included Upton Sinclair, Norman Mailer, George Seldes, Ted O. Thackrey and John Steinbeck.
EC Comics
In the early 1950s, he was the business manager of the EC Comics line published by Bill Gaines, a close friend.
In 1956, with $8,000 of the money he collected from libel actions against Walter Winchell, Confidential, ABC-TV and Editor & Publisher, he began his publishing company, Lyle Stuart, Inc. (which is now owned by Kensington Books).
Stuart's first wife, Mary Louise Stuart, died in 1969. He married Carole Livingston Stuart in 1982 and they were married until his death on June 24, 2006 at age 83. He was a resident of Fort Lee, New Jersey.