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Obituary: Petra Mathers
Award-winning author-illustrator Petra Mathers, known for her naive-flavored pencil and watercolor artwork, died on February 6; she was 78.
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Christian Publishing Veteran Joey Paul Dies at 79
Paul, whose career in Christian publishing spanned more than four decades, was an executive editor at Thomas Nelson. He died on February 6.
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Stephen Blake Mettee, Book Business Entrepreneur, Dies at 76
Stephen Blake Mettee died from a heart attack while snorkeling in the Galapagos Islands on November 18. A serial entrepreneur across many sectors, Mettee founded independent publisher Quill Driver Books in 1994 and Hummingbird Digital Media, a hybrid e-book distributing/retailing company, in 2015.
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Book Publishing Veteran Hugh Lauter Levin Dies at 72
Publisher Hugh Lauter Levin, the longtime v-p at Abrams who launched his own house, Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, in 1984, and sold it to Rizzoli in 2007, died on January 9. He was 72.
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Obituary: Dinah Stevenson
Esteemed children's editor Dinah Stevenson, lauded for being a keen spotter of talent and for shepherding numerous books and authors to the industry's highest accolades, died on January 23 at 81.
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S&S Senior Production Manager Tina Cameron Dies
Cameron joined S&S in 2017 as senior production manager for distribution clients, and had previously worked at Abrams and Macmillan. She died on January 20.
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Obituary: Robie Harris
Children's author, educator, and free speech champion Robie Harris, best known for her stories about young children's powerful emotions and her frequently challenged and banned books on human sexuality, including 'It's Perfectly Normal,' died on January 6 at 83.
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Terry Bisson, Award-Winning Sci-Fi Author, Dies at 81
The award-winning science fiction author, whose short story “Bears Discover Fire” swept the genre's major awards in 1990, died on January 10 following a recent cancer diagnosis.
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Waterside Founder William Gladstone Dies at 74
William Gladstone, the literary agent, publisher, author, and founder of Waterside Productions, died on December 27.
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Marc Jaffe, Editor Whose Work Spanned Nearly a Century, Dies at 102
The former editorial director of Bantam and Ballantine and founder of Villard Books at Random House and an eponymous imprint at Houghton Mifflin, whose long and storied career in trade book publishing lasted into his final hours, died on December 31.
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Former Knopf Associate Publicity Director Michelle Somers Dies at 50
Somers, who died in her Brooklyn home this past August, worked on Justice Sonia Sotomayor's memoir, two novels by Toni Morrison, and Martin Sherwin and Kai Bird's Pulitzer-winning biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer in her 13-year tenure at Knopf.
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Donald Barliant, Co-owner of Chicago's Barbara's Bookstore, Dies at 86
An innovative bookseller, Barliant oversaw the expansion of his bookstore into a chain that today has 11 stores, and at one point had 50 locations across the U.S.
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Roy Gainsburg, Former St. Martin's Press President, Dies at 91
Roy Gainsburg, president of St. Martin's Press from 1987 to 1997, died on December 9. He was 91.
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Larry Hughes, Longtime William Morrow Chief, Dies at 98
Larry Hughes, who began his publishing career as an assistant editor at Pocket Books in 1949 and rose to become chairman of the Hearst Trade Book Group some 40 years later, died on November 14.
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Jack Artenstein, Former S&S Group President and Publisher, Dies at 83
After executive roles at Grosset & Dunlap and Simon & Schuster, Artenstein launched RGA/Lowell House in 1984, and sold the company to the NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group in 1998.
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Sharon Fitzhenry, Canadian Distributor and Publisher, Dies at 73
Fitzhenry, the president and CEO of Canadian distribution and publishing company Fitzhenry & Whiteside Ltd., died on August 26. A celebration of her life will be held on November 14.
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Ken Norwick, First Amendment and IP Lawyer, Dies at 82
Ken Norwick, whose clients included a number of prominent authors as well as the Association of American Literary Agents, died on October 30.
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Jordan Miller, Cofounder of Academy Chicago Publishers, Dies at 97
Miller, who, with his late wife, Anita Miller, founded Academy Chicago Publishers in 1975, died in Chicago on October 18.
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Pioneering Bookseller Hillel Stavis Dies at 78
WordsWorth Books founder Stavis, a leader in computerized inventory and online selling and cofounder of the WordStock inventory and POS system, died on October 20.