Faith Sale Dead at 63

Dec 13, 1999

News
Faith Sale Dead at 63 -- 12/13/99 Faith Sale, who in 20 years at Putnam emerged as one of the eminent literary editors of her day, died in a hospital December 7 after a long battle with cancer. She was 63. Sale began her publishing career as a secretary at Knopf, moved on to Lippincott and briefly to Macmillan before leaving publishing for some years of freelance editing and reading. In 1977 she became a senior editor at Dutton, where she edited fiction by Alice Hoffman (whom she later took to Putnam), Susan Fromberg Schaefer and Dennis Smith. Her move to Putnam at the invitation of Phyllis Grann in 1979 was a surprise. But Sale flourished there as a literary editor in a house with a largely commercial reputation. She was first in the U.S. to publish Pat Barker and Kazuo Ishiguro, and did first novels by a range of authors including Amy Tan, Perri Klass, Connie May Fowler, Tama Janowitz and Mitch Berman, among many others. She also edited books by Kurt Vonnegut, Kaye Gibbons, Lee Smith, Bebe Moore Campbell, Delia Ephron, Joseph Heller, Donald Barthelme and John Barth, among many others. She was active in the PEN American Center for 20 years, and received both the LMP Award and the Roger Klein Award for her editing skills. The date and location of a memorial service will be announced. Datus Smith, 92 Datus C. Smith Jr., who played a leading role in scholarly publishing in the U.S. for many years, and was instrumental in the postwar Franklin Book Programs that brought American books to developing countries, died in Princeton, N.J., on November 17. He was 92. Smith was director of Princeton University Press from 1942 to 1953, when he left to join what was then Franklin Publications. Supported by the Ford Foundation, the Franklin program had offices in many developing countries, exchanging books and personnel with publishers in the States; it was regarded as a major factor in the internationalization of American publishing during the past 30 years. Smith was later active with the Asia Society and UNICEF. His Guide to Book Publishing was translated into at least seven languages. Correction: The name of Paulist Press's new imprint, HiddenSpring, was incorrect in last week's issue (News, Dec. 6). For information call (212) 534-7646.

News

Faith Sale Dead at 63
-- 12/13/99

Faith Sale, who in 20 years at Putnam emerged as one of the eminent literary editors of her day, died in a hospital December 7 after a long battle with cancer. She was 63.

Sale began her publishing career as a secretary at Knopf, moved on to Lippincott and briefly to Macmillan before leaving publishing for some years of freelance editing and reading. In 1977 she became a senior editor at Dutton, where she edited fiction by Alice Hoffman (whom she later took to Putnam), Susan Fromberg Schaefer and Dennis Smith.

Her move to Putnam at the invitation of Phyllis Grann in 1979 was a surprise. But Sale flourished there as a literary editor in a house with a largely commercial reputation. She was first in the U.S. to publish Pat Barker and Kazuo Ishiguro, and did first novels by a range of authors including Amy Tan, Perri Klass, Connie May Fowler, Tama Janowitz and Mitch Berman, among many others. She also edited books by Kurt Vonnegut, Kaye Gibbons, Lee Smith, Bebe Moore Campbell, Delia Ephron, Joseph Heller, Donald Barthelme and John Barth, among many others.

She was active in the PEN American Center for 20 years, and received both the LMP Award and the Roger Klein Award for her editing skills. The date and location of a memorial service will be announced.

Datus Smith, 92

Datus C. Smith Jr., who played a leading role in scholarly publishing in the U.S. for many years, and was instrumental in the postwar Franklin Book Programs that brought American books to developing countries, died in Princeton, N.J., on November 17. He was 92.

Smith was director of Princeton University Press from 1942 to 1953, when he left to join what was then Franklin Publications. Supported by the Ford Foundation, the Franklin program had offices in many developing countries, exchanging books and personnel with publishers in the States; it was regarded as a major factor in the internationalization of American publishing during the past 30 years. Smith was later active with the Asia Society and UNICEF. His Guide to Book Publishing was translated into at least seven languages.

Correction: The name of Paulist Press's new imprint, HiddenSpring, was incorrect in last week's issue (News, Dec. 6). For information call (212) 534-7646.

A version of this article appeared in the 12/13/1999 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline: