The publishing industry is mourning the loss of longtime Publishers Weekly editor Sybil Steinberg, who died March 17 at age 90. Steinberg served as a PW editor for 25 years, handling weekly fiction reviews and author interviews until her retirement in 2001. In remembrances this week, PW colleagues and publishers recalled Steinberg as a consummate professional—and an original influencer.
“From where I sat, for many years as managing editor, Sybil was someone who could be counted on each week to make one or two drops of perfectly edited reviews, some of which she wrote herself,” said Michael Coffey, who retired as co–editorial director of PW in 2014. “Much of trade publishing then awaited Sybil’s careful judgment. I daresay Sybil’s spirit will long linger in the digital spaces of PW.”
In a tribute posted on Facebook, former Beacon Press publisher Helene Atwan recalled Steinberg as “one of my favorite people in the publishing industry,” who possessed “an unerring eye for literary talent.” Atwan recounted a time she asked Steinberg for permission to quote her by name on a dust jacket—and received a bouquet of flowers in return. “She was justly proud of what she did, and I’m celebrating her work and her long and fruitful career.”
Nicholas Latimer, former v-p and executive director of publicity at Knopf, had his own anecdotes to share. “Sybil—no last name required as there simply was no other Sybil—was a literary kingmaker,” Latimer said. “Her decision to feature or ignore, praise or pummel, embrace or dismiss any given book was something no one in publishing could afford to take for granted.” Latimer recalled one of his earliest encounters with Steinberg. “I phoned to let her know that we were adding a book at the last minute for the following season—a new John Updike. ‘Will this be a major Updike, or a minor Updike?’ Sybil wryly inquired. To which I replied, ‘Well, I guess that’s for you to decide.’ ”
Steinberg graduated from Smith College in 1954, where she edited the Sophia student newspaper. After graduation, she turned down an entry-level job at Doubleday in favor of starting a family. PTA meetings and articles for the local paper followed, as well as a stint at the Famous Writers School—the correspondence school founded by a host of publishing professionals, including Bennett Cerf, among others.
Through the Famous Writers School, Steinberg met Jean F. Mercier, children’s book editor at PW. Mercier asked Steinberg to write a review. That led to a fill-in copyediting role in 1976, with Steinberg joining the magazine full-time in 1979. In 1983, she was named editor of fiction reviews, and soon began overseeing PW’s author interview department as well. In 1989 Steinberg introduced the boxed review to highlight promising talent and made Amy Tan’s debut novel, The Joy Luck Club, the first boxed review. Two years later, Steinberg was named editor of the entire reviews department.
In her role as author interview editor, Steinberg enjoyed one-on-one conversations with many elite literary figures, including Annie Proulx, John Updike, and Fay Weldon. In this role, Steinberg experienced a crowning achievement in her illustrious career, when Pantheon invited her to London in 1994 to interview Salman Rushdie, who was still in hiding six years after a fatwa had been issued over his book The Satanic Verses. “Such an extraordinary assignment in such extraordinary circumstances is fitting testament to the trust and respect that Sybil was accorded from the highest levels of American publishing,” Coffey observed.
Steinberg also edited three volumes of Writing for Your Life, a series of books that featured interviews compiled from PW. After her retirement, Steinberg continued to review books and maintain her ties to the publishing industry. Her annual “Sybil’s List” lecture, in which she would describe her favorite books of the year, regularly drew standing-room-only crowds at her hometown library in Westport.
A funeral service was held March 21. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Sybil’s memory to the Westport Library, Fairfield County Hospice House, or Planned Parenthood.
“The PW family is diminished by the loss of our dear friend Sybil,” said PW owner George Slowik, who worked with Steinberg when he was publisher of PW, prior to acquiring the company in 2010. “We will be forever enriched by her remarkable contribution to all that PW represents.”
