An editor, publisher and author, Russi M. Lala began his career as a journalist in 1948 at the age of nineteen. He later became an executive in a publishing house and, in 1959, he became the manager of the first Indian publishing house in London. In 1964, he founded (with Rajmohan Gandhi) the newsweekly Himmat, which he edited for a decade. His first book, The Creation of Wealth: The Tata Story, was published to critical and commercial acclaim in 1981. This was followed by Encounters with the Eminent (1981), The Heartbeat of a Trust (1984), In Search of Leadership (1986), Beyond the Last Blue Mountains: A Life of J.R.D. Tata (1992), The Joy of Achievement: Conversation with J.R.D. Tata (1995) and Celebration of the Cells: Letters from a Cancer Survivor (1999). He is co-editor of a book of J.R.D. Tata's speeches, Keynotes (1986). He has been the director of the Dir Dorabji Tata Trust and is the co-founder of the Centre of Advancement of Philanthropy and has been, since 1993, its chairman.