Former Bantam Books editorial director Marc Jaffe, 102, died on December 31. Early in his career, Jaffe was western & mystery editor at New American Library, publishing Gore Vidal and Mickey Spillane. Jaffe became editorial director at Bantam in 1961 and stayed for 19 years as the imprint became a force in paperback publishing, including William Peter Blatty’s THE EXORCIST. He later became vp at Random House and editorial director at Ballantine, and founded Villard Books, then founded an eponymous imprint at Houghton Mifflin. Later, Jaffe started Editorial Direction with his wife, Vivienne, and worked as a freelance editor and consultant until his […]
Obits
Obituary: Mihai Radulescu
Mihai Radulescu, 82, died of cancer on January 6. Husband of literary agent Marly Rusoff for 39 years, Radulescu worked alongside her at Marly Rusoff & Associates as director of foreign rights and CFO. Along with Rusoff he was also a founding board member and webmaster at The Pat Conroy Literary Center in Beaufort, SC. Memorial gifts would be gratefully received in Mihai’s name by the Pat Conroy Literary Center.
Obituary: Matthew Flamm
Poet and reporter Matthew Flamm, 70, died on January 2 of brain cancer. From 2004 until his retirement in 2020, Flamm was a reporter at Crain’s New York Business. He previously wrote for the New York Post and New York Observer. His poetry appeared in the New Yorker, and his poetry collection GRIEVING FOR BEGINNERS was self-published last year.
Obituary: David Burr Gerrard
Author of Short Century and The Epiphany Machine David Burr Gerrard died on December 8. He taught writing at the New School, Manhattanville College, and elsewhere. A GoFundMe has been set up to support his wife, Grace Bello, and his daughter, Amelia Bello-Gerrard.
Obituary: Roy Gainsburg
Former president of St. Martin’s Press Roy Ellis Gainsburg, 91, died on December 9. He worked for 30 years as a lawyer at Szold & Brandwen, specializing in publishing and literary law and representing St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Ltd. of London, and the J.R.R. Tolkien estate. He became president of St. Martin’s from 1987 until 1997, then served as an administrative vice president until he retired in 2009.
Obituary: Gabe Hudson
Gabe Hudson, 52, author of short story collection Dear Mr. President and novel Gork the Teenage Dragon died on November 24. Hudson also hosted a podcast called “Kurt Vonnegut Radio.”