Lapham, Lewis H. (1935–)

Lewis H. Lapham is national correspondent for Harper's Magazine. He is also is editor of Lapham's Quarterly, a journal of history which will debut in the spring of 2007. Mr. Lapham is the author of numerous books, including Waiting for the Barbarians, Theater of War, Gag Rule, and, most recently, Pretensions to Empire. The New York Times has likened him to H.L. Mencken; Vanity Fair has suggested a strong resemblance to Mark Twain, and Tom Wolfe compared him to Montaigne.

Mr. Lapham currently writes “Notebook,” a bi-monthly essay for Harper's that won a National Magazine Award in 1995 for exhibiting ”an exhilarating point of view in an age of conformity.“ He has also written for Life, Commentary, the National Review, the Yale Literary Magazine, Elle, Fortune, Forbes, the American Spectator, Vanity Fair, Travel and Leisure, Golf, Golf Digest, Parade, Channels, Maclean's, the London Observer, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.

Lewis H. Lapham was inducted into the American Society of Magazine Editors' Hall of Fame in February of 2007.

A native of San Francisco, Mr. Lapham has studied history at Yale College and Cambridge University.