Tim Mooney, 70, died on September 19 after a short illness. Mooney worked at Staver’s bookstore in Chicago before joining Random House in 1989. Over nearly 37 years, he held various sales roles at PRH including trade sales rep, national account manager, and most recently Penguin Random House sales manager for publisher services “He was a brilliant reader, one of the best, and across all genres,” PRH chief revenue officer Jaci Updike wrote in a memo to employees. “He was known as quiet but thoughtful about his observations, and when he spoke, all listened, as they knew Tim would have […]
Obits
Obituary: Ben Bruton
Ben Bruton, who owned book publicity firm Ben Bruton PR, has died. Prior to launching his own company in 2016 he was senior director of publicity at William Morrow, and also worked at Atria Books, Doubleday and Nan A. Talese Books, Putnam, and Riverhead.
Obituary: Michael Alan Zibart
Book review magazine BookPage founder Michael Alan Zibart, 78, died in Nashville on September 5. After college at Vanderbilt Zibart started working at Ingram Book Company in the warehouse, then worked as a buyer and eventually executive vice president in the trade books department. He left Ingram in 1988 to create BookPage, where he remained until his retirement in 2023. With his brother and father, he also managed Zibart’s Bookstores in Nashville.
Obituary: Paul Colford
Longtime newspaperman Paul Colford, 71, died August 26 after heart complications impacted by his fifteen-year battle with Parkinson’s disease. A reporter for over 30 years, Colford covered the publishing business for two decades, first for Newsday and then for the NY Daily News (after which he served as vp of media relations for the AP). He was a published author of two books as well.
Star Lawrence Dies at 82
Former longtime Norton editor-in-chief Starling Lawrence died on August 21 at New York-Presbyterian Hospital after a short illness, at age 82. He remained editor-at-large at Norton until his death — most recently working on books by David Ignatius, Michael Lewis, and David McCloskey — after first joining the publisher in late 1969 as an assistant to Evan Thomas. Lawrence became editor-in-chief in 1993 and vice-chairman in 2000. Company chair and president Julia Reidhead said, “It is impossible to overstate the effect Star Lawrence has had on Norton. His taste was as confident and true as his spirit, and he transformed […]
Obituary: Sheila Hodgson
Sheila Hodgson, 66, senior editor for Harlequin Mills & Boon, died on August 6 after a short illness. The publisher writes: “Throughout her 31 years on the team, Sheila had been an insightful expert and champion of the romance publishing industry and an exceptional editor. She will be greatly missed by her colleagues and authors with whom she shared her warmth, humour and constant support. We offer our deepest condolences to Sheila’s husband and family, and wide network of colleagues and friends.”