Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer, 90, died at home in Johannesburg. Gordimer won the Booker in 1974 and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize in 2002, along with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991. Jamil Ahmad, 83, author of THE WANDERING FALCON, died at his home in Islamabad after a long illness. Ahmad’s debut novel was published in 2011 when he was 79 after being excerpted in the “Pakistan” issue of Granta. At St Martin’s, Nancy Trypuc has been promoted to vp, creative services. Jerry Bilek will join the Minnesota Historical Society Press as sales manager on August 1. Bilek is the owner of Monkey […]
Obits
People, Etc.
Following the February announcement that Penguin Random House would close two Penguin warehouse/operations centers by 2015 and consolidate all US fulfillment operations into the Westminster, MD and Crawfordsville, IN facilities, there is a now a report on an expansion of that warehouse in Indiana. PRH is adding 350,00 square feet (growing by about 50 percent) and plans to add “up to 313 new jobs by 2016.” The first of the hiring will begin this August. Walter Dean Myers, 76, author of numerous children’s novels that chronicled struggles of urban youths, died July 1 at Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan […]
People
Hachette Australia ceo and chairman of Hachette New Zealand Matt Richell, 40, was killed in a surfing accident in Sydney earlier Wednesday, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. In a statement Hachette UK ceo Tim Hely Hutchinson said: “With great sorrow, and in shock, we have to announce the death of our beloved friend and colleague. Our thoughts and most heartfelt condolences are with Matt’s wife Hannah, his family, his colleagues and many friends in publishing and more widely.” Crown announced a number of recent promotions in the editorial department. Kevin Doughten has been promoted to senior editor for both the […]
People, Awards, Etc.
Barbara Kline Pope has been appointed director of the Association of American University Presses, succeeding Philip Cercone. Pope is director of the National Academies Press and will serve a one-year term as AAUP director. Costco’s July Pennie’s Pick is THE GIVER by Lois Lowry. Donna Tartt’s THE GOLDFINCH and Doris Kearns Goodwin’s THE BULLY PULPIT won the Carnegie Medals for fiction and nonfiction, respectively. Start Publishing is in the process of acquiring Whiskey Creek Press, as covered in two posts at Writer Beware. Poet and novelist Dermot Healy, 66, died over the weekend in County Sligo, Ireland. He was the author […]
People, Etc.
Paul Crichton is leaving Simon & Schuster Children’s, where he is vp, executive director of publicity, on June 27, after more than nine years. Crichton plans to “to take some time off this summer and literally travel around the world as he mulls the next steps in his career.” President and publisher of S&S Children’s Jon Anderson commended Crichton in a statement for “garnering a significant amount of attention for our titles” by the likes of Scott Westerfield, Cassandra Clare, Rachel Renee Russell, John Lithgow, and Ellen Hopkins…His contacts with the press, his reputation within children’s publishing, and his relationships […]
People
Simon & Schuster vp, business information and data operations Helene Green died Tuesday after a long illness. She began her publishing career at Macmillan in 1987 and joined S&S’s children’s division, responsible for inventory, in 1994 upon the acquisition of the company (which owned Scribner), after which she moved over to the supply chain division. Green also represented S&S on various AAP and BISG committees. VP, business operations Frank Nunez said: “Helene will be remembered as a consummate colleague: knowledgeable, passionate about the work we do and eager to do a good job, loyal to her staff and a great teacher to […]