Evelyn Loeb Beilenson, the former publisher of Peter Pauper Press, died on October 4. She was 83.
Born in Paris, Beilenson and her family emigrated to New York City from Europe in 1941. In the 1970s, she co-founded an interior design company, but within a decade joined her attorney husband, Nick Beilenson, to resurrect his family’s publishing company, which had been started in 1928.
The couple oversaw the transformation of Peter Pauper Press from a struggling small book publisher into a multi-million-dollar business, which now specializes in children’s books, activity books, stationery, journals, holiday cards, engagement calendars, travel guides, and gift books. As publisher for almost 30 years, Evelyn authored or compiled more than 60 books, including Simple American Cooking, Wit and Wisdom of Famous American Women, and the children's picture book The Zoo is Closed Today. The company is now run by the Beilensons' son, Laurence.
In a phrase the captures her vision for publishing, Evelyn once wrote for the cover of a bestselling journal: “In the midst of our busy lives, we must find the magic that makes our souls soar.”
