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Harper's editor is now TRB

After a year and a half as editor of Harper's, the nation's oldest continuously published monthly (founded in 1850), Michael Kinsley, 32, was riding high. His provocative, sometimes flippant mix of articles won a National Magazine Award last month for general excellence. Within days, the magazine's board reported that lopping off unprofitable subscribers, which reduced the circulation from 325,000 to about 140,000, had cut annual losses from $2.4 million to $300,000. Nonetheless, last week Kinsley gave up one of the most visible jobs in magazine journalism for one of the more anonymous: starting in September, he will replace the revered Richard Strout, who retired at 85 after four decades as the pseudonymous TRB columnist for the weekly New Republic (circ. 96,000). Said Kinsley: "Some people think I am crazy, but writing a column is a journalist's dream, and this one seems to come open once every 40 years."

The move is a sentimental journey for Kinsley. A Rhodes scholar, he was a student at Harvard Law School in 1976 when New Republic Owner Martin Peretz named him managing editor. Among Kinsley's duties was editing TRB. He gave up editing in 1981 because he "preferred writing," but within six months he took the Harper's post "because it looked like a great job." Says Peretz: "Michael believes in institutions, and TRB is an institution."

Kinsley's resignation, although voluntary, ends an uneasy and at times even stormy relationship with the board of Harper's, which is financed by a foundation. Last year former Board Chairman Donald Petrie denounced Kinsley's acceptance of an Israeli government-financed trip to inspect conditions in Beirut. This spring Kinsley irritated board members when he suggested that the magazine's editorial offices be moved from Manhattan to Washington or California, in part because he found New York City "a difficult place to live." He also sought a raise, after initially cutting his own pay from $80,000 to $55,000 as an austerity measure. Conceded Kinsley: "The thought of not having to deal with the Harper's board added to the luster of the job at the New Republic."

Harper's Foundation President Rick MacArthur nonetheless praised Kinsley and said the board was paying his tenure the utmost compliment. "As his successor," said MacArthur, "we want another independent, unconventional thinker." . This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.