Early life Kanter was born in
Baranovitch in the
Russian Empire (now Belarus) and immigrated to the United States in 1904. He then lived in
Nashua, New Hampshire, for some time. He left high school at the age of sixteen, and worked as a traveling salesman for years. He married Rose Ehrenrich in 1917 and moved to
Savannah, Georgia. They had three children, named Henry (Hal), William, and Saralea.
Career Kanter worked in
real estate in
Miami, but the
Great Depression put an end to it, and Kanter moved his family to
New York City. He worked for
Colonial Press and then
Elliot Publishing Company (which may have been an imprint of
Malverne Herald). Elliot got into the comics market in 1941; one of their first titles was
Double-Up Comics, which was made up of remaindered superhero comics from other publishers (like
Harvey's
Pocket Comics and
Speed Comics). Recognizing the appeal of early comics, Kanter believed he could use the burgeoning medium to introduce young and reluctant readers to "
great literature". In October 1941, with the backing of two business partners, he created
Classic Comics. The title became a huge success, proven by the demand for reprints of issues 1, 2, 3, and 5; something never seen before in the comic book industry. (Eventually, all 169 titles of
Classic Comics were reprinted, some up to 25 times.) The comics' success opened classic novels to a large audience of young people for decades. By the time of
Classics Illustrated #4, in 1942, the title outgrew the space it shared with Elliot, and Kanter moved the operation to different offices, creating the corporate identity
Gilberton Company, Inc. In addition to
Classics Illustrated, Kanter presided over its spin-offs
Classics Illustrated Junior,
Specials, and
The World Around Us. Between 1941 and 1962, sales totaled 200 million. The publication of new titles ceased in 1962 for various reasons. In 1967, Kanter sold his company to
Twin Circle Publishing Co. and its
conservative Catholic publisher
Patrick Frawley, whose
Frawley Corporation brought out two more titles but mainly concentrated on foreign sales and reprinting older titles. By the early 1970s,
Classics Illustrated and
Junior had been discontinued. Albert Kanter's son William Ehrenreich Kanter and daughter Saralea Kanter Emerson worked for Classics Illustrated for many years, and Saralea was an editor of the company's crossword puzzle publications, eventually owned, operated, and named as Penny Press by William and his wife (creator) Penny Kanter, and their sons. William's son Peter Kanter is currently president of Penny Press and its many magazine titles, including crosswords. Kanter's first born son, Hal Kanter, was writer-producer-director of films and television series and specials. All three of Albert and Rose's children were born in Savannah, Georgia. ==References==