Pulitzer Prize-winning author Nelle Harper Lee has died at age 89, the Alabama Media Group reported Friday morning, citing confirmation from “multiple sources in her hometown of Monroeville.” HarperCollins confirmed her passing to the NYT, which has a lengthy obituary by William Grimes.
Yale University Press editor-at-large and former Los Angeles Times Book Review editor Steve Wasserman will join Heyday Books as publisher and executive director on July 1, relocating to Berkeley, CA. He succeeds founder Malcolm Margolin, who retired at the end of last year. In the intervening period Heyday’s editorial director, Gayle Wattawa, will act as interim publisher, and director of nature and environmental publishing Lindsie M. Bear will serve as interim executive director.
Wasserman said in the announcement: “I met Malcolm twenty years ago when I was editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review. I greatly admired his vision for Heyday and his knack for inviting nearly everyone he encountered to join him on his journey of celebration and joy and beauty. Malcolm’s passion for good books, his instinct for finding fresh voices, and his ability to inspire others in this quest have been exemplary. His shoes will be hard to fill. I’m honored to have the chance to try. I look forward to becoming Heyday’s chief cartographer as it maps the still-to-be-discovered riches of California in the years ahead.” Wasserman will continue to consult with Yale University Press and edit several authors still to be published.
Vanessa Kehren has joined The Overlook Press as editor. Previously she was an editor at Blue Rider Press.
Annie Chagnot has been promoted to associate editor at Spiegel & Grau.
At Chronicle Books, Christina Amini has been promoted to publishing director, formats.
At Little, Brown Children’s, Mary-Kate Gaudet has been promoted to executive editor, and Russell Busse moves up to assistant editor.
In the UK, Arabella Stein has joined Bright Group international as a senior agent, reporting to managing director and founder Vicki Willden-Lebrecht. She had stepped down as co-director of Abner Stein in 2014 to “pursue a new direction.”
Sara Hoerdeman is now marketing manager, consumer products at the American Academy of Pediatrics. She has previously worked at IPG, Northwestern University Press and Northern Illinois University Press.
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Jessica Treadway‘s Lacy Eye is the Target Club Pick for March.