interview by Joan Brasher
photo by Steve Green

Lydia Howarth, wife of Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos, received a bachelor’s degree in 1975 from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and graduated cum laude with a double major in English and philosophy, before going on to earn a master’s degree in English from the University of Chicago in 1977. An accomplished editor in the world of academic publishing, she has worked for the University of Wisconsin Press, the University of Chicago Press, the National Geographic Society, the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., and Beacon Press in Boston, among others. She is mother of Benjamin, 21, and Nicholas, 18.

VV: Where were you born?

LH: I was born in Springfield, Ill., and am the fourth in a family of five children. I have two sisters and two brothers. A little-known fact about me is that (for) all of my life living in Springfield, until I was 22, my father was either mayor or getting ready to run for mayor again. All the Howarth kids developed political opinions at an early age.

VV: How and where did you meet your husband?

LH: Nick and I met in Madison, Wis., when I was working for the university press and he was in law school there. We were friends for many years before we married, and when we did, we eloped. We left the big beautiful Greek wedding to Nick’s brother, who did a much better job of it than we could have.

VV: Tell us about your work as an editor.

LH: After graduate school I went to work in academic publishing. When we moved to Nashville in 1987, I began working as a freelance editor, primarily for Beacon Press in Boston. I’ve always been a kind of “first reader” for authors, helping them revise, rewrite and prepare their manuscripts for publication. Over the years, I’ve edited many different kinds of books: fiction and nonfiction, history and biography, law and medicine, poetry, essays and literary analysis, political and economic studies, even astrophysics.

VV: What do you do for fun?

LH: Right now, what I do most often for fun is go to a Vanderbilt event. I stopped working as a full-time freelancer about the same time my husband became provost and vice chancellor at Vanderbilt. Now, I occasionally edit a small book but no longer attempt to meet publishers’ deadlines on large academic manuscripts. When I have time, I enjoy writing, gardening and spending time with all of my talented friends.

VV: How did your sons react to their dad’s new appointment?

LH: They are thrilled for him. My sons and I and my mother – who is a part of our Nashville family – are all very happy about the honor Vanderbilt has given my husband in choosing him as the eighth chancellor. We know no one will take more pleasure in serving the university than he will.

Posted 03/10/08