PUBLISHING: A Leap from Mind to Mind

Miller was with Houghton Mifflin for more than 40 years, serving as chairman from 1973 until his retirement in 1990. During his tenure, Houghton Mifflin grew from a privately held, modest-sized publisher to a publicly traded company that was one of the largest publishing firms in the country when Miller stepped down. In a wide-ranging account that is far more than a memoir, the author documents Houghton Mifflin's growth while tackling a variety of educational publishing issues with the company as a focal point. Miller relied not only on his own experience but interviewed nearly 100 people who were associated with the company over the last 50 years to illuminate the major events in its evolution into a major publishing force. The development of Houghton's highly successful math and reading programs, for example, is revealed in a q&a format with many of the people who worked on the projects. He also recounts how Houghton managed to remain independent until the "mysterious" sale to Vivendi in 2001, and takes a firm stand against further ownership of American publishers by foreign conglomerates. More broadly, Miller discusses such subjects as the influence of statewide adoptions on the publishing process and the value of standardized testing. Readers without any background in publishing may find Miller's work too much of an insider's look at the industry, but the topics Miller covers make it a must read for anyone in educational publishing and for those in government circles who deal with educational issues. (Sept.)