Helen Honig Meyer, former president and CEO of Dell Publishing and one of the first women to head a major New York publisher, died April 21 in Livingston, N.J. She was 95.
A pioneering female executive at time when women had few opportunities to rise in the industry, Meyer began her career at Dell Publishing in 1923 at the age of 16, working as a clerk when the company had only six employees and published two pulp magazines. A protégée of George Delacorte, Dell's founder, Meyer assumed a variety of duties—working the switchboard, bookkeeping, handling circulation and in production. By the 1940s, she was an executive vice-president, overseeing Dell's expansion into paperback publishing and directing Dell's lucrative pulp paperback and comics program. She was named president of Dell in 1957 and held that position until Dell was sold to Doubleday in 1976. She continued as Dell's co-publisher until 1982, when her contract was not renewed. She continued to work as a consultant and literary agent, and is also a past director of the AAP.
