Paul Nathan, rights columnist for Publishers Weekly from 1946 to 1998, died December 12 at age 96 from Parkinson's disease, PW reported.
Nathan also published three novels, works of nonfiction, short stories and plays, was a Russian-language translator and was a columnist for Publishing News and Variety. We remember him for his cheerful photograph that ran every week. At one point, during difficult times in the early 1980s, one reader called him the last smiling person in the book world.
A service will be held today, 5-7 p.m., at the Griffis Faculty Club at Weill Cornell Medical College, 1300 York Ave. in New York City. Contributions in his name can be made to the Wright Center for Aging, 1484 First Ave., New York, N.Y. 10065.
