Obits

Thriller writer Thomas Perry, 78, died on September 15 from an aortic dissection. He wrote 32 novels, including The Butcher’s Boy, The Old Man, and the Jane Whitefield series. The tenth and final book in the series, The Tree of Light and Flowers, will be published in March.

Lawyer Robert Barnett, 79, died on September 26 in Washington, D.C. Barnett represented many politicians and other high-profile authors for book deals, including James Patterson, Khaled Hosseini, Mary Higgins Clark, Phil Knight, Michelle and Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barbra Streisand, Bob Woodward, and George W. Bush. “Bob was the consummate counselor to presidents, ceos, royalty, and celebrities, and a legend at our firm, but anyone who knew him also recognized him as a kind, gracious man who was an amazing partner and friend,” Williams & Connolly chair Joe Petrosinelli said. “We will miss him greatly.” “Bob also […]

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 […]

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.

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.

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.