Peter Workman, founder, president and CEO of Workman Publishing Company, died yesterday of cancer. He was 74.
After working in the sales department of Dell Publishing, he founded Workman in 1967 as a book packager. Within two years, Workman published its inaugural list, highlighted by Richard Hittleman's Yoga 28-Day Exercise Plan. Among its bestsellers are B. Kliban's Cat, The Official Preppy Handbook, The Silver Palate Cookbook, What to Expect When You're Expecting, the Brain Quest line, Sandra Boynton's children's books and 1,000 Places to See Before You Die.
In 1989, Workman Publishing bought Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill and, later, acquired Storey Publishing, Timber Press and HighBridge Audio. In 1994, Workman Publishing launched Artisan, and it distributes Black Dog & Leventhal, Greenwich Workshop Press and the Experiment.
The company noted that Workman was "a passionate golfer and skier and a keen poker player, and he took great pleasure in the company of friends, colleagues, and family" and that he was "moved by the beauty and expanse of nature--Yosemite, Zermatt, Patagonia, the heaths of Scotland. He was a man driven by big, innovative thoughts. And yet, when it came to bookmaking, he paid attention to the smallest detail: the size of a folio, the use of an ampersand, the quality of paper. A visionary, an inspirational leader, and true friend, Peter will be deeply missed."
The company will be run by Workman's wife, Carolan, his daughter Katie and "the small management team of people who have been a mainstay of Workman's success over the years," Carolan Workman wrote two weeks in a memo about Bob Miller's departure as group publisher.