Sidney Offit (born October 13, 1928) is an American writer best known for his children's books and participation in nightly debates with Martin Abend on WNEW-TV (now WNYW) during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
[5][6] At the same time, he was a celebrated writing teacher at The New School,[7][8] New York University and Hunter College, whose students included Marita Golden[9] and Ann Jones,[citation needed] Barry Beckham and Chris Miller (humorist).
As a fixture of the New York literary scene during latter half of the 20th century, Offit befriended many of the era's most-celebrated writers, including Robert Caro, Ralph Ellison, Joseph Heller and Kurt Vonnegut.
[14] Since Vonnegut's death, Offit has reminisced about their close friendship in various fora, and edited the Library of America's collection of the late author's novels and short stories.
[22] Though Offit produced one more novel, 1962's The Other Side of the Street, he soon found greater success as a writer of children's books, which he published at a prodigious rate through the end of the decade.
His stories covered topics ranging from sports to Greek mythology, and featured artwork by illustrators like Peter Burchard (Cadet Attack), Paul Galdone (The Adventures of Homer Fink), and Mercer Mayer (The Boy Who Made a Million).
Years later, television critic Marvin Kitman remembered:Offit was the liberal, the last of a long line Abend debated on 'The Ten O'Clock News.'
[26]The Abend-Offit debates often degenerated into outrageous ad hominem attacks, and were said to have inspired the CNN show "Crossfire" and Saturday Night Live's "Point/Counterpoint" sketch featuring Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd.
In recent decades, he has regularly been interviewed by historians and biographers, and his reminisces have featured in works on Kurt Vonnegut, Ralph Ellison,[10] and Madeline L'Engle.