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Peter Jovanovich, Influential Educational Publisher, Dies at 75
Son of one of the founders of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, the scion carved out his own publishing career, leading three of the country's largest educational publishers over a 32-year span.
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Obituary: James Proimos
Children's author, illustrator, animator, and designer James Proimos died on July 8. He was 66.
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David A. Morton, Who Defined Rizzoli's Architecture Program, Dies at 89
Morton, who joined Rizzoli International Publications in 1987 and was named associate publisher in 2008, published titles by such leading architects as Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, and I.M. Pei. He died on June 27, a day shy of his 90th birthday.
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David Peters, Cofounder of Ryland Peters & Small, Dies at 66
David Peters, the well-known independent publisher of lifestyle books on both sides of the Atlantic, died of cancer at his home in the U.K. on June 22.
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Lucia Heinold, Longtime Borders Buyer, Dies at 82
Heinold spent 25 years at Borders and Waldenbooks as a buyer and merchandise manager. She died at her home in Alexandria, Va., on February 10.
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Gary Urda, SVP of Sales at Simon & Schuster, Dies at 59
Urda died unexpectedly the morning of June 24 after collapsing at the gym. S&S CEO Jonathan Karp called him "a quintessential sales executive, with a deep knowledge of our industry."
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Thomas McCormack, ‘One of the Great Contrarians of Publishing,’ Dies at 92
McCormack, the longtime, famously outspoken executive who turned St. Martin’s Press from “an insignificant trade house on the brink of bankruptcy to a quarter-billion-dollar powerhouse,” died on June 15. He was 92.
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Obituary: Cynthia DeFelice
Children's book author Cynthia DeFelice, oft-lauded for her deft storytelling and absorbing themes, died on May 24, in Geneva, N.Y. She was 72.
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Obituary: Nonny Hogrogian
Children's book author, illustrator, and designer Nonny Hogrogian, acclaimed for her vibrant woodcut and mixed-media artwork and twice awarded the Caldecott Medal, died May 9 in Holyoke, Mass.; she was 92.
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Obituary: Katey Howes
Children's author Katey Howes, whose picture books often focused on STEM/STEAM themes, creativity, and individualism, died suddenly on May 20 in Langhorne, Pa.; she was 47.
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Publishing Veteran Ralph Woodward Dies at 94
Over Woodward’s more than 50-year career in the book business, he held senior sales and marketing roles at both Little, Brown and Knopf, and later helped organize the New England Booksellers Association's first trade show. He died on May 20.
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Obituary: Florence Minor
Florence Minor, best known for numerous picture book collaborations with her husband, illustrator Wendell Minor, died on May 21 after a battle with ovarian cancer; she was 74.
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Alice Munro, Short Story Master and Nobel Laureate, Dies at 92
Canadian author Alice Munro, a master of the short story and the winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize for Literature, died at her home in Port Hope, Ontario, on May 13.
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In Memoriam: James A. Fox, 1939-2024
Matthew Martin, senior v-p and deputy general counsel at Penguin Random House, remembers his late mentor, former Harper general counsel Jim Fox.
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Jim Fox, Former HarperCollins General Counsel, Dies at 85
Fox, who worked at HarperCollins Publishers for 35 years and as the company's general counsel for a decade, died on May 2 following an extended illness. Former HC president and CEO Jane Friedman once called Fox "a legend in his own time."
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Writers House Exec Al Araneo Dies at 53
Araneo, who worked at Penguin, Doubleday, and Bookspan before creating the contracts department at Writers House in 2006, was the literary agency's executive v-p and director of business affairs. He died of natural causes on May 4.
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Obituary: Étienne Delessert
Swiss artist and animator Étienne Delessert, globally lauded for the surrealistic, wildly imaginative images in his more than 80 children's books, died on April 22 in Lakeville, Conn.; he was 83.
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Janet Reid, Influential Publishing Blogger and Literary Agent, Dies
Reid's blogs, 'Query Shark' and 'Miss Snark,' were widely read destinations for frank commentary on the publishing industry and the querying process. After a more than 20-year career as an agent, she died after a brief illness on April 14.
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Literary Agent Richard Parks Dies at 83
Parks, who ran his own eponymous literary agency for more than 35 years, counted Jonathan Lethem, Jonathan Carroll, and Susan Straight among his clients. He died of complications from dementia on April 23.
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Daniel C. Dennett, Philosopher and Bestselling Author, Dies at 82
Dennett was the codirector of Tufts University's Center for Cognitive Studies and the author of more than 20 books, known for their provocative arguments about religion, morality, consciousness, and evolutionary biology, among other topics. He died on April 19.
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