Pam McLucas Byers, a veteran publishing executive on both coasts, died on October 27 after a long illness. She was 67.
Byers began her publishing career at John Wiley & Sons upon completing her PhD in English at Rutgers University, where she was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. Starting in Wiley publicity, Byers was assistant manager, public relations; a product manager for Wiley Press, a trade paperback line; and product manager for Wiley’s professional software.
Later she moved to Doubleday as manager, marketing planning; manager, non-trade Sales; and director of advertising and publicity for special interest books. Simon & Schuster recruited Byers as associate publisher, reference, responsible for the Arco line; earlier, she was director of marketing, reference, responsible for launch of the new edition of Webster’s New World College Dictionary.
Recruited by Harper San Francisco, Byers was associate publisher and v-p; marketing director; and later, v-p, operations, HarperCollins San Francisco Group.
After a stint as publisher and editorial director of KQED Books & Video, where she launched the only full-scale publishing program affiliated with a PBS station in the U.S., Byers accepted an offer to serve as founding executive director, Covenant Network of Presbyterians, to lead the Presbyterian Church (PC-USA) to approve ordination of LBGT members and, subsequently, marriage equality. After 14 years, and shortly before her retirement, the Presbyterian Church approved both measures.
Byers earned a masters in theological studies at the San Francisco Theological Seminary and was recognized with its Distinguished Alumni award last summer. She is survived by her husband, Jeff Byers, a former publicist for Macmillan, and her daughter, Katie, a Boston-based math teacher.
