Leonard Stern, one of the founders of Price/Stern/Sloan, died June 7 at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, after a year-long illness. He was 88. With a long background in television, Stern was involved with some of TV’s best-known shows including The Jackie Gleason Show and Get Smart. In 1953 Stern, along with Roger Price, created Mad Libs, and later they were joined by publicist and friend Larry Sloan and the trio launched Price/Stern/Sloan in 1963, a publisher best known for its humor titles. Stern authored several books, including Dear Attila the Hun and A Martian Wouldn’t Say That!. P/S/S became an imprint of the Penguin Group in 1993
Stern’s body of work in television won him three Emmy awards, three Writers Guild of America awards, two Golden Globes, a Peabody and Jimmie, as well as numerous Emmy nominations. Funeral services will be June 10 at 2 p.m. at Mt. Sinai, 5950 Forest Lawn Drive, Hollywood Hills. In lieu of flowers, family would appreciate donations in his name to the Writers Guild of America Foundation.
