In 1953 while an editor at art book publisher
Harry Abrams, he met
Anne Bernays (b. 1930), daughter of public relations pioneer
Edward L. Bernays and writer
Doris E. Fleischman, and great-niece of
Sigmund Freud. They married in 1954. Soon after he was invited by M. Lincoln "Max" Schuster, co-founder of
Simon & Schuster to help acquire "better books", seek out younger authors, and "deal diplomatically" with established names.