Colourful publisher who earned the loyalty of leading authors even when rivals offered more money
Tom Rosenthal was a flamboyant, even rococo, figure in British publishing, who nurtured such talents as Gore Vidal and John Updike and succeeded in retaining their loyalty at his more niche and traditional publishing concerns. This was despite attempts by rival publishers to prise them away with fat cheques during the increasing corporatisation of the publishing world.
Rosenthal was sometimes in danger of becoming a figure of fun and was reputed to be the inspiration for the pompous, rotund publisher Snipcock in the Private Eye cartoon Snipcock and Tweed. Nonetheless, he was hugely respected as a giant (both figuratively and