Mystery Writers of America announced its special awards, with Katherine Hall Page and R.L. Stine as the 2024 Grand Masters and Michaela Hamilton of Kensington Publishing receiving the Ellery Queen Award.
Pen America and PRH’s Suit Against FL Schools Will Continue
Pen America and Penguin Random House’s lawsuit against the Escambia County, FL school board will move forward, U.S. District Judge Kent Wetherell ruled on Wednesday. The plaintiffs, which include a group of authors and parents, argue that the school system’s removal of more than 1,600 titles–including dictionaries and encyclopedias–is a violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. “Today, we urged the court to vindicate the Constitutional rights of students, parents, authors and publishers,” Pen America, Florida director Katie Blankenship said in a statement. “We are heartened that Judge Wetherell agreed and that our case can proceed. These books need to […]
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Obituaries: Marc Jaffe, Michelle Somers
Former Bantam Books editorial director Marc Jaffe, 102, died on December 31. Early in his career, Jaffe was western & mystery editor at New American Library, publishing Gore Vidal and Mickey Spillane. Jaffe became editorial director at Bantam in 1961 and stayed for 19 years as the imprint became a force in paperback publishing, including William Peter Blatty’s THE EXORCIST. He later became vp at Random House and editorial director at Ballantine, and founded Villard Books, then founded an eponymous imprint at Houghton Mifflin. Later, Jaffe started Editorial Direction with his wife, Vivienne, and worked as a freelance editor and consultant until his […]
Malaviya Highlights Company “Action Items”
In a note welcoming employees back from the holidays, Penguin Random House ceo Nihar Malaviya shared three “company-wide action areas” that management has decided to focus on based on the 2023 employee survey. One focus will be on company strategy, in order to “create greater clarity about the global strategy by increasing the frequency of both local and global strategy communications.” Another item is “psychological safety—emphasis on feedback culture.” He writes that they will “continue to work on creating an inclusive and psychologically safe environment for employees at every level, one that fosters the free exchange of feedback, ideas, and […]
Obituary: Mihai Radulescu
Mihai Radulescu, 82, died of cancer on January 6. Husband of literary agent Marly Rusoff for 39 years, Radulescu worked alongside her at Marly Rusoff & Associates as director of foreign rights and CFO. Along with Rusoff he was also a founding board member and webmaster at The Pat Conroy Literary Center in Beaufort, SC. Memorial gifts would be gratefully received in Mihai’s name by the Pat Conroy Literary Center.