Obits

Co-founder of Cinco Punto Press Bobby Byrd, 80, died on July 11 in El Paso, TX. Byrd was a poet and started Cinco Puntos with his wife, Lee Merrill Byrd, in 1985, and sold the independent publisher to Lee & Low last year.

Chairman and co-founder of Janklow & Nesbit Associates, Morton L. Janklow died Wednesday morning at home in Water Mill, NY from heart failure. An attorney, he launched his career as a literary agent in 1972 when his friend and client, William Safire, asked him to handle a book he was writing about Richard Nixon. As the agency adds in a release, “When the Watergate scandal broke and the book’s publisher, William Morrow, tried to back out of the contract, Janklow sued, ushering in a new era of authors’ rights; he later sold the book to Doubleday. ‘We took the publisher […]

Roger Angell, 101, baseball writer, former editor at The New Yorker, and author of Late Innings and Once More Around the Park, died on Friday in Manhattan of congestive heart failure.

Former Putnam vp, executive art director Ann Spinelli died on May 9 at 77. Starting in 1981, she worked at Putnam for 30 years, and designed and art directed covers by Tom Clancy, Amy Tan, Kurt Vonnegut and others. “Ann is remembered as a mentor to the designers whose careers she launched and who are top talents in publishing today. Ann was passionate about design, the authors and artists with whom she worked, and the colleagues with whom she collaborated. Her kindness, generosity, and unique sense of humor left an indelible mark on all,” the publisher said in a statement.

Russian-Ukrainian sci-fi and fantasy author Sergey Dyachenko died on May 5 at 77. With his wife, Marina Dyachenko, he was the co-author of more than 30 books, including Vita Nostra, The Scar, and Daughter from the Dark. A sequel to Vita Nostra will be published by Harper Voyager next year.

Senior sales director at HarperCollins Canada Sandra Leef died on April 29 after a brief illness. A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, May 4 at the DeStefano Funeral Home, 1289 Keith Ross Drive in Oshawa, Ontario. Visitation will be from 12:00 – 2:30 pm and a funeral service will be held at 2:30 pm.