Obits

Publisher of Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and School Library Journal from 1988 through 2003, Fred Ciporen died on September 5. The funeral will be held on September 10, at the Plaza Jewish Community Chapel, 630 Amsterdam Avenue in New York City.

Gloria Steinem, 92, died on September 2 in her home in Manhattan. A writer, feminist crusader, and one of the founders of Ms. magazine, she was the author of the memoir My Life on the Road. Her memoir An Unexpected Life is forthcoming from Random House on September 22.

Environmental activist and author Wendell Berry, 92, died at his home in Kentucky on Monday. He wrote essays, fiction, and poetry about agriculture and the natural world, including The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture and the Port William stories and novels. Berry received a National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama in 2011 and the National Book Critics Circle’s Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. Counterpoint will publish a new essay collection from Berry, Dispatches from Rural America: Sixteen Essays, on October 27.

Country singer and songwriter Dolly Parton, 80, died on August 25 in Nashville. In addition to her trailblazing music career, she was a philanthropist and literacy advocate. Through her initiative Imagination Library, she distributed more than 200 million books to children and babies. Maria A. Pallante, president and ceo of the Association of American Publishers, said in statement, “Dolly Parton lived a magnificent life focused on creativity, compassion, and joy. In addition to her inspiring personal journey and singular reputation as a singer-songwriter, she was a widely read book author and reading advocate, dedicated to giving children their very own […]

Former Harper Collins UK ceo Eddie Bell died at 77 years old, the Bookseller reports. He started in publishing in sales at Hodder in 1973. He came to the US to found Harper Paperbacks in the 1980s and became ceo of Harper UK in 1990. After retiring from Harper in 2000, he co-founded Bell Lomax Moreton Literary Agency. “We were sorry to hear of the death of Eddie Bell, who had a long and successful career in publishing and for a decade served as executive chairman and publisher of Harper Collins UK,” current Harper UK ceo Kate Elton said. “Eddie was a […]

Scholar and author Jason Arday, 41, was found dead in his home in London on Friday, August 14. Arday’s memoir, Great and Unfortunate Things, was published in the US by Simon & Schuster imprint 37 Ink last week, and is due to be published on August 27 in the UK. Earlier this month, Arday resigned from his post as a sociology professor at Cambridge University, which he joined in 2023 as the institution’s youngest Black professor. Arday was accused of plagiarism in his academic work and of fabricating or exaggerating information about his personal life. In a statement, Arday’s family […]