About 125 friends and colleagues gathered at the Iris restaurant in Manhattan on September 19 to wish Stuart Applebaum both a happy birthday and good luck after he steps away from Penguin Random House as EVP emeritus of corporate communications at the end of this month.

Applebaum has been in publishing for 52 years, and is the longest-tenured employee at PRH parent company Bertelsmann. He began his career as a publicist at Knopf before joining Bantam Books, now part of PRH, in 1975. He went on to serve as a book publicist, publicity director, and public relations head for Bantam Books, Bantam Doubleday Dell, Random House, and PRH. In 1997, PW deemed Applebaum the "king of his profession."

Speakers at the Thursday event included PRH CEO Nihar Malaviya, who thanked Applebaum for advising Malaviya about working with the Bertelsmann board and how to deal with the media, and Stacy Matulewicz, Applebaum’s longtime assistant and, in the words of Applebaum, “collaborator,” who said that she had no idea that when she “stumbled into” a job with Applebaum “what an impact it would have on my professional and personal life.”

Applebaum’s brother Irwyn also gently skewered “Applebaum the older” for his unlikely rise from a teenager obsessed with reading PW at the local library to become one of publishing’s preeminent publicists and dean of the industry’s corporate communications director ranks.

Applebaum’s own remarks included a shoutout to both PW and public libraries. "Ever since high school, I have wanted to work in book publishing,” Applebaum said. “And thanks to Publishers Weekly and the Queens Public Library I got my chance. As long as I can remember I have been obsessed with finding out when the new books are going on sale. As a teen, I read about this magazine, Publishers Weekly, which has this information in every issue. I told my mother I wanted to get a subscription. 'Not happening,' she said. 'Too many magazines piling up in the house. Go read it in the library.' So I did."

Applebaum has never forgotten PW or the library. Susan Latham, executive director of the Queens Public Library Foundation, was on hand to thank Applebaum for his continuous support. Among his many contributions, Applebaum established a $100,000 endowment fund when he turned 50 and Latham said since that he has continued to support the library both financially and as an advisor.

As for PW, Applebaum said he has never missed an issue.