“An editor doesn’t just read, he reads well, and reading well is a creative, powerful act.”

― Susan Bell, The Artful Edit

Accomplishments

Arnie Kotler, M.A. UC Berkeley, has been a developmental editor of nonfiction books since 1979, when he helped translator/scholar/artist Kazuaki Tanahashi with Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dōgen. In 1985, Arnie started Parallax Press and helped craft the lectures and writings of Thich Nhat Hanh and other spiritual peace activists into landmark books. He also compiled and edited books by Thich Nhat Hanh for New York publishers, including Peace Is Every Step (Bantam Books, 1 million sold), Living Buddha Living Christ (Riverhead), and The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching (Broadway Books). Jodie Evans, cofounder of CODEPINK: Women for Peace, told Publishers Weekly, “Arnie has an unerring instinct for agents of change, and he has been able to deliver their messages.” In 1996, Clayton Carlson, founder of HarperSan Francisco, described Parallax Press as “one of the most impressive publishing achievements of the past decade.” The One Spirit Book Club, a division of the Book of the Month Club, described Parallax Press’s books as “simply the best works from the finest contemporary teachers on the topic of practical spirituality.”