Jerome Lowenstein, NYU Physician and Publisher, Dies at 92

Dr. Jerome Lowenstein, a distinguished professor of medicine at New York University who helped found the Bellevue Literary Review and the Bellevue Literary Press, died on Dec. 8 at his home in Manhattan. He was 92, and his son, Benjamin, confirmed the death. Over more than six decades at N.Y.U., Dr.

Lowenstein taught generations of doctors to take a more humanistic approach to patient care, conducted foundational research in renal physiology including studies of the kidney’s relationship to high blood pressure, and published books ranging from a nephrology text to a scientific novel and essays about medicine.

In 2000 he helped start the Bellevue Literary Review and served as its nonfiction editor for 20 years; Danielle Ofri, the journal’s editor in chief, said he was “a mensch, always patient and thoughtful.” In 2007 he helped establish the Bellevue Literary Press and worked with editorial director Erika Goldman.

He raised about $500,000 from private donors to finance the press and read portions of books the press considered, including Paul Harding’s debut novel Tinkers, which had been rejected by many publishers. Tinkers won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, the first novel from a small press to win since 1981; within an hour of the announcement, Random House sent a news release saying it had signed a two-book deal with Mr.

Key Topics

Health, Jerome Lowenstein, New York University, Bellevue Literary Press, Bellevue Literary Review, Pulitzer Prize