Career Highlights

• Grew up in Seattle, Washington
• Graduated from Yale University in 2000
• Served as editor of Yale Daily News while in school
• The idea for The Man Time Forgot came from working under a portrait of Britton Haddon at Yale
• Conducted his research using Time Magazine's own records

Journalist Isaiah Wilner grew up in Seattle, Washington and graduated from Yale University in 2000. While at Yale, he served as editor of Yale Daily News. He then went on to write for the New York Times. Wilner’s first book, The Man Time Forgot, A Tale of Genius, Betrayal, and the Creation of Time Magazine was published in 2007. The idea for the book stemmed from Wilner’s time at Yale when he worked under a portrait of Briton Hadden, founding editor of Time Magazine.

The Man Time Forgot is the true story behind the first newsmagazine. Wilner used never-before-published documents from Time Magazine’s private archives, personal letters and interviews to make the case that after Hadden’s death, his colleague and Time’s cofounder, Henry Luce, downplayed Hadden’s role in creating the magazine and essentially erased his contributions from the corporate history. The story reveals that Hadden was truly the genius behind the creation of Time along with laying the groundwork for Life and Sports Illustrated.

Our Interview

Jared tells ThinkTalk host Zack Sherwood about his writing process and how he came up with the idea for The Man Time Forgot. He also gives advice on researching and explains how he got access to the documents he needed to write his novel.