Obits

Editor Charlie Conrad, 61, died on November 21 from complications of ALS. Throughout his career, he held positions at New American Library, Warner Books, Doubleday, Broadway, Crown, Penguin, and Berkley. He edited Frances Mayes and Jon Krakauer, as well as THE LAST DUEL, adapted into a 2021 film, and THE TERMINAL SPY, which is slated to become an HBO series. In a statement, PRH said, “Conrad was a beloved colleague by all. [He] was a voracious reader and consumer of magazines and newspapers (he preferred old-school print), a lover of music, good food and wine, and an avid NPR listener. […]

Minnesota poet, author, and translator Robert Bly, 94, died on November 21 at his home in Minneapolis. Bly wrote or translated more than 50 books. He won the 1968 National Book Award for poetry for The Light Around the Body and donated his $1000 winnings to the draft resistance.

Caroline Todd, pseudonymous author of mystery novels with her son under the name Charles Todd, died on August 28. She was 86. Todd’s books take place in English villages after World War I. The mother-son team submitted their first book, A TEST OF WILLS, to Ruth Cavin at St. Martin’s Press in 1996. She agreed to publish it, and it sold out its first print run. “Everyone respected that their books weren’t fluff, that they were about real history, about real people in a real time,” mystery writer Rhys Bowen told the NYT. “They were one of the better mystery […]

NPR Books editor Petra Mayer, 46, died suddenly on Saturday at Holy Cross Hospital in Maryland, of what is believed to have been a pulmonary embolism. Described by colleagues as “a proud nerd,” Mayer shared with listeners her love of science fiction, comics and cats. Nancy Barnes, NPR’s senior vice president for news, wrote in an email to staff, “Petra was NPR through and through. To say that Petra will be missed simply seems inadequate.” Novelist Wilbur Smith, 88, died on November 13 in his home in Cape Town, South Africa. The Zambia-born author of 49 novels, his books have […]

Semiotext(e) founder Sylvère Lotringer (83) died on Monday following a long illness. A critic and theorist who was born in Paris and taught French literature and philosophy at Columbia for 35 years, he began Semiotext(e) in 1974 as a scholarly journal. As an independent publisher, it is known for introducing French theory to American readers.

Victress Literary founder Shannon Orso, 41, died on September 25. Senior agent Lizz Nagle wrote, “She was our fierce defender, our best friend, our neon light. Victress exists because of her vision. It grew because of her heart.”