Pines was born in
Malden,
Massachusetts, the son of Joseph and Dora Goldes Pines. He had two brothers, Robert A. Pines, who would work with Ned in publishing, and Kermit L. Pines, who became a doctor; and a sister, Lillian. Their father, a native of
Russia, had settled in the
Boston, Massachusetts, area and founded the Pines Rubber Company, of which he was president for 26 years before retiring sometime prior to his death in 1930, at age 57, at his home in
Brooklyn,
New York City,
New York. His Collegian Press, Inc. bought the existing magazine
College Humor from
Dell Publishing by the mid-1930s, publishing it through 1942. In mid-1936, Pines refuted a claim by the
Cartoonists Guild of America that
College Humor had not agreed to pay the $15 Guild minimum, payable within 30 days, for drawings by Guild members. Pines added
comic books to the mix in 1939 with the publishing
imprint Standard Comics, which became in turn the parent company of two comic-book lines:
Better Publications and
Nedor Publishing. Collectors and historians sometimes refer to them collectively as "Standard/Better/Nedor". In 1942, He remained in that position through 1971. and was made a life trustee of the Federation in 1968. who practiced law from 1921 to 1935 before becoming editor and publisher of
College Humor magazine; in 1941, he became editor and publisher of
See magazine. He was also a director of Standard Magazines, Inc., Better Publications, Inc. and Eastern Life Insurance. Pines, who had homes in
Paris,
France;
Manhattan; and
East Hampton,
New York, died at the
American Hospital of Paris after a brief illness. ==Personal life==