Stephanie Owens Lurie, editor-at-large at Disney Hyperion, has announced that she will retire from the company at the end of May. For more than four decades, Lurie has been a mainstay in the children’s publishing industry, most recently spending 15 years at Disney. There, she has been Rick Riordan’s editor for 14 years and helped launch the Rick Riordan Presents and Freedom Fire imprints to provide platforms for BIPOC authors.
Lurie spent almost seven years as associate publisher and editorial director of Disney Hyperion, beginning in fall 2008. In this position, she acquired and edited books across all age levels, and managed editorial staff responsible for the Hyperion and Jump at the Sun imprints. In mid-2016, she became editorial director of Rick Riordan Presents.
Lurie’s career has involved working with an array of children’s book luminaries, among them Eric Carle, J.C. Cervantes, Eoin Colfer, Jennifer Donnelly, Marla Frazee, Kwame Mbalia, Lynn Munsinger, Laura Numeroff, Mark Oshiro, Sara Pennypacker, Lynn Plourde, Lesa Cline Ransome and James Ransome, John Rocco, Bob Shea, and Jonathan Stroud.
“Looking back over the years, I’m immensely grateful for the many opportunities I’ve been given,” Lurie said, “such as launching Neal Shusterman’s career and a program of first chapter books at Little, Brown; acquiring Andrew Clements’s Frindle at Simon & Schuster; editing Judy Blume’s Double Fudge at Dutton; and working on books that tie into the Star Wars, Pixar, Artemis Fowl, and Percy Jackson franchises at Disney.”
The editor expressed gratitude to her colleagues from various houses who have enriched the projects she has helmed over the decades. “The many art directors and designers I’ve partnered with, especially Joann Hill at Disney, have helped me bring many beautiful books to fruition,” Lurie noted. “I’ve been fortunate to have top-notch colleagues at all levels of the publishing companies I’ve worked at, and I will remember them with much fondness.”
Following Lurie’s retirement, which will most likely involve freelance editing, the Rick Riordan Presents and Freedom Fire imprints will continue under the direction of senior editor Rebecca Kuss.
Riordan shared warm words of appreciation for his longtime editor. “Working with Steph has been one of the highlights of my career,” he told PW. “I feel so grateful to have had her wisdom, experience, empathy, and keen editing skills shaping my books these many years. Her work with Rick Riordan Presents in particular was the critical factor in the imprint’s success. Editors are so often the unsung heroes in publishing. As anyone who has worked with her can attest, Steph is simply the best!”
