Perseus Books Group ceo David Steinberger announced to employees on Tuesday that president of Publishers Group West Susan Reich plans to retire on March 31 (and will remain in that role until her retirement). Reich was president and COO of Avalon for 10 years before it was acquired by Perseus, and has run PGW for the past 7 years (after working there in the 90s as vp). Reich “has done an exemplary job leading PGW,” Steinberger writes, adding, “She has a well-deserved reputation as a professional of high integrity and excellent judgment who guides PGW with an endearing combination of directness and wit. Under Susan’s leadership, PGW has built further on its extraordinary reputation and track record of success serving independent publishers. One of Susan’s most important legacies is the terrific team that she has cultivated.”
Kelly Leonard has been named director of digital marketing at Regan Arts, starting December 17. She was previously vp, web strategies for Hachette Book Group and most recently led digital marketing consultancy KLO Associates. Tracy Brickman will join the company as publicist. She previously worked at Portfolio and Grand Central.
On Penguin Random House US’s international sales & marketing department, Anke Reichel has been named regional sales director, Europe, based in Berlin, leading an entirely US-publishing-focused team with dedicated selling responsibilities for the Penguin and Random House publishing groups, as well as PRH Publisher Service clients. Cristi Navarra was appointed sales development manager, Europe and the Middle East, based in New York.
Among the NYT journalists leaving the paper is media reporter Leslie Kaufman. The paper accepted buyouts from 87 employees, but then laid off another 21 people this week.
Creator of Clifford the Big Red Dog Norman Bridwell, 86, died last Friday at a hospital on Martha’s Vineyard. Scholastic says his over 150 titles have 129 million copies in print worldwide. Scholastic ceo Dick Robinson says in a release, “Norman personified the values that we as parents and educators hope to communicate to our children – kindness, compassion, helpfulness, gratitude – through the Clifford stories which have been loved for more than fifty years.”