Chandler B. Grannis, who spent his entire working life at Publishers Weekly and was its editor-in-chief from 1968 to 1971, died October 23 in a New York City hospital after a long struggle with congestive heart failure. He was 90.
Grannis went to work for PW in 1936, right after college, and made his career here, apart from a spell in the army during World War II. He succeeded Mildred Smith as editor, and took early retirement three years later to become a contributing editor. He wrote and edited books for the R.R. Bowker company, including the classic What Happens in Book Publishing and Banned Books: 387 B.C. to 1978 A.D. Always passionately interested in scholarly publishing, Grannis was a familiar figure at AAUP meetings for 50 years and served often as one of the judges for its annual Book Show. Another great interest was printing and book design, and he was an honorary member of the Typophiles of New York. He served several terms on the governing boards of the National Book Committee and Rutgers University Press, and was an editor for Franklin Book Programs, an organization that encourages publishing development in the Middle East.
A memorial service was held November 2 in his hometown of Montclair, N.J.
