• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Login
  • Register
Publishers Lunch logo Publishers Lunch logo
  • Publishers Marketplace
  • Site Guide
  • Help
Login Sign Up
  • Personnel
  • AI
  • Compensation
  • Unions
  • Book Bans
  • New Releases
  • Earnings
  • The Trial
  • Archives
Publishers Lunch logo
  • Publishers Marketplace
  • Site Guide
  • Help
  • Publishers Marketplace
  • Site Guide
  • Help

May 11, 2018By Michael Cader

Publisher Peter Mayer Dies

May 11, 2018By Michael Cader

Renowned publisher Peter Mayer, 82, has died. Penguin Random House said in a brief statement, “We are deeply saddened by the passing of our forever colleague Peter Mayer, one of the towering giants of trade publishing, whose long and brilliant leadership of Penguin will always be part of the DNA of Penguin Random House.”

President of The Overlook Press, which he founded with his father in 1971, Mayer was best known for his long tenure as ceo of Penguin Books, from 1978 to 1996. Prior to that, he was publisher and president at Pocket Books, and spent 14 years at Avon Books, where he became publisher.

As the NYT wrote in 1998 after Mayer had left Penguin, “He was driven, manic and so scattered that fabled stories circulated about times when he was so preoccupied with the press of business that he would go to a restaurant and forget to order or he would dine twice because he had forgotten an earlier meal. His breezy letters — which often went through several drafts before they went out to far-flung employees — were legendary for their pointed lessons in publishing.” Mayer told the paper at the time, “‘I loved my 19 years being a C.E.O. I loved it to distraction, but I couldn’t do it till I’m 80. So I love being big and I love being small.”

Filed Under: Free, Personnel

sidebar

Primary Free Sidebar

Login

Forgot Password Quick Pass User Login
Get Full Access
The Publishing Industry’s Essential Daily Read

Each Publishers Lunch Deluxe subscription includes full access to our searchable multi-year archive of industry news, a nightly email reporting 10 to 50 deal transactions, and our database of industry contacts, scripts, and posting privileges.

Learn More

RSS Automat

  • Spotify Adds Plans for Individuals and Family Groups to Add On Another 15 Hours of Paid Audiobook Listening July 17, 2025 Press release
  • New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte Vetoes School Book Banning Bill July 16, 2025 NHPR
  • The WSJ on Scholastic's Turnaround Efforts July 15, 2025 WSJ
  • Fourth Wing Coloring Book and Calendar to be Published by Andrews McMeel July 15, 2025 Press release
  • Nielsen Successor (And Owner of Nielsen Bookscan) NIQ Files for IPO, Raising Over $1 Billion on a $7.25 Billion Value July 14, 2025 Reuters
  • Sally Kim Discusses Working at Each of the Big 5 July 10, 2025 Open Book Podcast
  • Authors Write An Open Letter to Publishers Against AI July 1, 2025 Lit Hub
  • Pearson and Google Partner on AI Tools June 27, 2025 Press Release
  • Author of "Life as We Knew It," Among 76 Books of "Complex Stories for Young Adults" Susan Beth Pfeffer Dies at 77 June 26, 2025 NYT
  • Why Man Not Read Fiction We Think Should? IDK -- Let's Ask A Tourist Bookstore June 26, 2025 NYT
Publishers Marketplace logo

Contact Us

News

  • Publishers Marketplace
  • Report News
  • Discuss
  • Classifieds
  • Rights Offerings

Deals

  • Report A Deal

Books

  • Buzz Books

Jobs

  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy Terms of Use