The program provided a prominent forum for authors to speak to the public about their works in one of the largest markets for books in the United States, New York City.
The ABA partnered with the New York Herald Tribune early in its first year, and with WNYC in its 11th season, in 1948.
Though it predominantly featured authors as speakers, it drew from a wide variety of notable figures during its 31-year run.
Some of its famous guest speakers include Vladimir Nabokov, James A. Michener, Jane Jacobs, Robert Moses, Rachel Carson, John Kenneth Galbraith, Sammy Davis Jr., Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. and Marian Anderson, among many, many others.
It was hosted for the majority of its run by New York Herald Tribune Book Review editor Irita Bradford Van Doren.