Prior to forming Max & Co., Michael has been in the book business thirty years. He worked 3 years in a bookstore on New York City’s Fifth Avenue, where he sold a copy of My Guru & His Disciple to Fred Schneider of the B-52’s and, while on breaks, read Scott Berg’s biography of Maxwell Perkins. The Maxwell Perkins book inspired Michael to pursue a career in publishing and is one half the inspiration for the literary agency’s name (the other half being Maira Kalman’s poetry writing dog, Max). Michael’s first 13 years in publishing were with Random House-Ballantine, where he was a Vice President. Later, he ran William Morrow as their Publisher up until Morrow’s acquisition & merger into HaperCollins. If you are ever asked at a cocktail party what Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Emeril Lagasse, Susan Faludi, Stephen Dubner, Cokie Roberts, Tom Franklin, Edward Ball, Sidney Sheldon, Nikki Giovanni, Faye Kellerman, Coach Bill Parcells, Queen Latiffah, Sena Jeter Naslund, Ken Blanchard, Dennis Lehane, bell hooks, Lawrence Block, Manette Ansay, Aaron Elkins, Paul Prudhomme, Dan Rather, Susan Dodd, Snoop Dogg, George W. Bush, and Sonny Barger (founder of the Hell’s Angels) have in common, you can answer, All of them wrote books acquired or published by Michael.

Sarah Grace sometimes goes by the nom de plume Sarah Disgrace, such as on her website, sarahdisgrace.blogspot.com. She has published two novels for Simon & Schuster, Grosse Pointe Girl and The Girl I Wanted To Be. Two separate reviews for the latter said Sarah Grace was a "writer to watch," so it must be true. Back when she was a writer, but not yet an Author, Sarah Grace was observed as a marketing manager for Dark Horse, a Portland Publisher perhaps best known for their Hellboy and Buffy the Vampire books (though Too Much Coffee Man should be the #1 claim to fame). She was then seen in Washington, DC, where she has worked for the magazines Mudsugar, Daily Candy, and Venus Magazine. While there, she was named to Washington’s list of Forty Under Forty to Watch. Most recently, she has been spotted in New York City, where she now lives and teaches creative writing at Gotham Writers, consults for Animal Planet (Puppy Bowl was not her idea), is working on her memoir about her deep passion for cupcakes (only her worship of Tina Fey comes anywhere close to cupcakes), and tries to observe being watched. She has not yet been sited on New York’s Forty Under Forty to Watch.

By day, Suzanne Amusant works for a large Midwestern based book publisher. She has been in publishing for 17 years. A Jacqueline of all trades, her most recent years have been devoted to contract negotiations and managing royalties. Suzanne has co-authored one book, A Box of Matches, and is a co-founder of the literary journal, Fresh Boiled Peanuts. By night or by whim or chance or weekend, Suzanne is the Midwestern Scout for Max & Co. With The South having been mined for books to within an inch of its life...Bless its Ya Ya heart, we feel the Great Midwest is an under explored opportunity for books about the essential matters in life: faith, food, and football....oh, and lawn care.

Temporarily Vacant is the multitasking, seemingly ubiquitous, member of the Max & Co. group (we loathe the word "team" used in a business environment). He has been seen in companies practically everywhere and occupying retail space in declining strip malls coast to coast. Max & Co. is currently seeking to replace Temporairly Vacant as their West Coast Presence.

Lisa Queen has been in publishing since shortly after the earth cooled, yet she doesn’t look a day over thirty...something. Most of her career has been devoted to foreign sales, where she has built up a lifetime of contacts in foreign book publishing communities. She’s even lived in Paris. As a literary agent, Lisa has represented many noted clients that even people who don’t read books have heard of. Her clients have included Tiger Woods, Elvis Costello, Heidi Klum, Pete Sampras, Soledad O’Brien...don’t you wish you were her? When not helping Max & Co. writers find foreign homes (at least those where the acquiring publisher did not retain World Rights), Lisa runs her own agency, Queen Literary Agency.

The Original Max no longer has any official responsibilities and receives not a dime in compensation. He is now very little involved in any actual projects handled by the agency. But--we couldn't go a day without his ever-present good cheer and gracious advice. Since he rode in on a dinosaur, or so it seems, Max has been showing up for work before 8AM each morning with the newspaper under one arm and his hat in the opposite hand. He wears the same style dark brown suit every day. Max has eight suits, all exactly the same. As he notes, "As a victim of indecision, I'd waste an hour of each day if I was also a victim of fashion and had to choose what to wear." While oblivious to fashion, Max is forever up on the latest candy. He recently introduced the staff to peanut butter Whoppers. We really couldn't function without his several-times-a-day quips and the occasional note he leaves on our desks.Two of our favorite Max-isms are "If it ain't broke, break it! You need the cracks to let the light in." and "There's your plan, and there's God's plan, and your plan don't matter."

STACIE HERNDON KIMREY
Image Grinder & Social Planner for Max & Co. Events that Will Likely Never Take Place

Stacie calculates that she should have been born in 1941, not 1971. Something got mixed up. As a result,she spends her days listening to music recorded prior to 1963 while wearing clothes, shoes, and jewelry that someone's grandmother tossed out, sipping tropical cocktails from a Tiki mug while sitting on a 1959 Herculon™ sofa, and reading a 1952 copy of Ladies Home Journal. Stacie spent 10 years in public radio, broadcasting classical music and writing, producing, and hosting a nationally syndicated radio show, Do Re Mi, which was distributed by NPR. In addition to being a full-time and freelance graphic designer, Stacie also regularly deejays vintage rockabilly, jump blues and hillbilly music at regular record hops and hoedowns in South Tejas.

Ken Brown has been called "Captain Kangaroo having passed through the Psychedelic 60’s." He is a world class collector of odd ephemera. All the retro images used on this site come from Ken Brown’s collections. In those Psychedelic 60’s, he was a noted short film maker, his surreal tales playing before concerts with, among others, the Grateful Dead and Jimi Hendrix. He has also created short films for MTV, VH1, and Sesame Street. A retrospective of his films was held in New York, January 2008. Ken also makes a variety of strange consumables; dancing vegetable or hairdos of the 70’s wrapping paper, rubber stamps of scenes like fat men in suits doing the splits, and a vast array of postcards & notecards. Ken has published three books, Notes From a Nervous Breakdown, The Unbearable Cuteness of Being, and the recently released My Parachute is Beige, a career guide for untalented & unmotivated cube dwellers. His work can be viewed, and in some cases purchased at at www.kenbrownpixpop.com and www.hoopla.org.

Marnie is the imminently capable safety net, provider of all things in time of need. In a single lifetime, she has been a stage & cabaret performer in New York City plus road productions at, among others, Indiana Repertory Theater and The Weathervane Theater in New Hampshire. She thereafter started her own company, baking cakes based upon old family recipes, and shipping them inside fabric covered hatboxes with a fresh nosegay of flowers. A whirlwind promoter, Marnie got herself featured in places such as Gourmet, Bon Apetit, Elle Decor, Food & Wine, a feature called "Grand Marnie" in Vanity Fair, The New York Times, The Today Show, The Food Network (4 different shows) and Oprah, both magazine & TV Show. She is, above all else, a diehard Carolina fan. Marnie can replay, in vivid detail, the time Carolina was down by 8 points with 17 seconds to play to That Yankee School (the word "Duke" should not be uttered in her presence unless you’re talking about mayonnaise) and the Tar Heels came back to win. And this was before the 3 point shot.