The King of the Deal

February 9, 2011 6:52 PM

A New Yorker profile of consummate dealmaker Irving 'Swifty' Lazar.

From the article:

Over the years, he was to give me much more advice from his personal experience, ranging from “Always try to have fun, kiddo” to “Be a mensch when you tip.” This last I received at that first lunch, when Lazar rose from the table at the end of the meal to continue table-hopping, and, without asking whether I had an expense account (I didn’t), left me to pay the bill. It taught me at least one useful truth about book publishing: the editor always picks up the check, never the agent.

posted by reenum (9 comments total)

Can it really be almost 20 years since Swifty Lazar died? Seems like they still have him showing up at the Oscar parties every year.
posted by briank at 7:46 PM on February 9, 2011

Those frickin' glasses, man. Classic.
posted by rhizome at 8:07 PM on February 9, 2011

The first time I remember hearing Irving Lazar’s name was in 1950, at Eden Roc, on the Cap d’Antibes.

Well LAH DI DAH for you.

The first time I heard his name I was reading SPY and it was attached to the epithet "short-fingered vulgarian".
posted by dersins at 9:12 PM on February 9, 2011 [2 favorites]

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posted by growabrain at 9:12 PM on February 9, 2011

The first time I heard his name I was reading SPY and it was attached to the epithet "short-fingered vulgarian"

Technically, that was Donald Trump. But SPY definitely made work of Lazar, too.
posted by jscott at 11:51 PM on February 9, 2011 [1 favorite]

How come no one ever writes about Sue Mengers?
posted by dobbs at 2:27 AM on February 10, 2011

How come no one ever writes about Sue Mengers?

Why don't you?
posted by Wolof at 2:37 AM on February 10, 2011

SPY's best take-down was "wee entomological curiosity Swifty Lazar."
posted by Ipsifendus at 5:10 AM on February 10, 2011

When I first moved to LA and worked in retail, his wife, Mary, was my regular customer. Great taste, nice woman, and she bought multiples of various bits and pieces of Baccarat, Lalique, etc for Christmas gifts for just about everything in the known world. Luckily, I was on commission and could quit before they all came back.

Vanity Fair had a reprint of an older piece about Sue Mengers in 2009
posted by Ideefixe at 12:43 PM on February 10, 2011