Longtime publisher, book and author promoter and literacy advocate Parker Ladd died on Tuesday. He was 89.
Ladd worked for many years as an executive at Charles Scribner's Sons and was a director of the Association of American Publishers. After retiring, he had a busy second career: he was a producer for the A&E show Open Book, which featured author interviews; ran a popular book & author breakfast program in Palm Beach, Fla.; held author events to aid charities; regularly hosted the annual National Association of College Store convention book & author breakfasts; and with his husband, the late Arnold Scaasi, and Liz Smith, who died four days ago, founded Literacy Partners. Donations may be made to the Scassi-Ladd Book Fund at Literacy Partners.