Obits

There will be a memorial for author Todd Gitlin at the Low Memorial Library at Columbia University on April 9 at 3:30 pm. The event is open to the public but rsvp’s to the following email address are appreciated: April9ToddGitlin@gmail.com

Margaret Kaplan, 91, former senior vp and executive editor of Abrams Artbooks, died on February 20. She joined Abrams as an editor in 1964. Eric Klopfer, executive editor at Abrams said, “Margaret was a pioneer, both at Abrams and within the publishing industry; she had a rare talent for perfectly balancing the art and the business of bookmaking. She was also a dear friend and mentor, full of wit, charm, zeal—and sage advice.”

Susan Doran, associate director of production at Macmillan, died on March 17. She joined the company in 1990. Raymond Ernesto Colón, director of production, MCPG, writes, “If you had the opportunity to know and collaborate with Susan, you know how kind, earnest, and committed she was. Susan’s absence will be felt throughout the industry as she has touched the lives of many – from authors to illustrators, colleagues to vendors, publishers to editors.”

Novelist and memoirist Maureen Howard, 91, died in New York on Sunday. Her 1978 memoir, Facts of Life, won the National Book Critics Circle Award and her novels Grace Abounding, Expensive Habits, and Natural History were all finalists for the PEN/Faulkner Award. She also received a Guggenheim fellowship and an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Book packager Jim Charlton, 82, who started his career at Doubleday and went on to found James Charlton Associates, died on February 13 from complications of the seasonal flu. Nick Beilenson, former publisher of Peter Pauper Press, died February 22 from complications from Covid-19. He took over the press from his parents in 1981, along with his wife Evelyn Loeb.

Book buyer at Classic Bookshop in Palm Beach, FL Dan Foster died unexpectedly at home on March 1. He was buyer at the store for 25 years.