Patricia Day Stein, who was v-p and co-founder of the book publisher Stein and Day with her then-husband Sol Stein, died on July 16 in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., of natural causes. She was 88.
Shortly after their marriage in 1962, Stein and her husband founded the publishing company Stein and Day. The company's authors included director Elia Kazan; screenwriter Budd Schulberg; literary critic Leslie Fiedler; historian Reah Tannahill; thriller writer Jack Higgins; British Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath; television presenter Sir David Frost; the Shah of Iran; criminal defense attorney F. Lee Bailey; and tennis star Renee Richards.
Stein and Day was forced into bankruptcy in 1987 and closed its doors for good in 1989. The couple began a second act when they co-founded the WritePro Corporation, a publisher of creative writing software. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1995.
Stein is survived by three children: Robert Bruce Bennett, David Day Stein, and Elizabeth Day Stein; her stepsons Kevin Stein, Jeff Stein, Leland Stein, and Andrew Stein; and three grandchildren: Summer, Madeleine, and Charles.
