Eric Swenson, 84
by Staff -- Publishers Weekly, 7/14/2003
Eric Swenson, former vice-chairman of Norton, who brought in some of the company's bestselling authors in his 40 years there, died June 22 of heart failure. He was 84. Swenson joined Norton in 1951, following brief stints with Pocket Books and William Sloan Associates, and rose to become director of the trade department and vice-chairman before his retirement in 1991. During his career he acquired some of Norton's biggest books, including Vincent Bugliosi's Helter Skelter; The Ugly American by Eugene Burdick and William J. Lederer; Present at the Creation by Dean Acheson; and Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange. Other authors with whom he worked included May Sarton and Joseph Alsop. He was also a world-class sailor.
