Joel Conarroe, ‘Hub of the New York Literary Wheel,’ Dies at 89

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Books|Joel Conarroe, ‘Hub of the New York Literary Wheel,’ Dies at 89 https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/03/books/joel-conarroe-dead.html Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT An influential arts administrator and educator, he was a trusted confidant to countless writers, notably Philip Roth.
Credit...Patrick McMullan/Getty Images May 3, 2024Updated 4:35 p.m. ET Joel Conarroe, a celebrated arts administrator and professor who headed the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for nearly two decades and served as a friend and confidante to a pride of literary lions, including his close friend Philip Roth, died on Sunday in the Bronx.
Mr. Conarroe was a central figure in the world of letters for decades, with stints as executive director of the Modern Language Association, the nation’s leading scholarly organization for language and literature, and the president of the P.E.N.
Image Mr. Conarroe and the biographer Robert Caro at a reception to honor Guggenheim fellows at the Guggenheim Foundation in New York in 2005