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| Phyllis Mandel | |
Phyllis Mandel, retired facilities leader for Bantam, Bantam Doubleday Dell and Random House, died on May 20. She had turned 75 the day before.
Penguin Random House called her as "a trailblazing distribution and facilities leader" who "helped shape and transform our facilities' pipeline into the centerpiece of trade publishing's leading supply chain."
Mandel began her 40-year publishing career in New York City in 1966 as a one-person order-processing/telemarketing department for Select Magazines, the national wholesaler distributor for Bantam Books, managing its book inventory with index and then key punch cards. In 1979, she began 12 years in sales administration and inventory at Bantam and BDD. Mandel relocated to Illinois in 1991 to assume leadership of the Des Plaines distribution center. Seven years later, she moved to Westminster, Md., to run the newly combined distribution and fulfillment operations of the just-merged Random House, Inc.
"She was a nurturing mentor and guiding force to many of the company's and the industry's current operations leaders, among them Annette Danek, Nihar Malaviya, Andrew Weber, Robin Sutton, John Bohman, and a next-generation of Westminster and Crawfordsville managers," PRH said.
"Mandel was a large presence, professionally and personally, often underestimated and disrespected early in her tenure because she was a formidable woman boss in the 'man's world' of facilities operations. But most who misread her initially came to admire her tough and tender dimensions, encyclopedic knowledgeability and team-building skill sets, fierce loyalty to her staff and fairness to vendor partners, and above all her unshakeable commitment to our authors, colleagues, and accounts."
When Mandel retired in 2006, a company memo observed that "Under her guidance, our Westminster and Crawfordsville facilities have achieved a level of achievement and efficiency that was unimaginable in the pre-Mandel era. In her time, she has overseen the distribution of over three billion of our books, helping to ensure the livelihoods of our booksellers and the reading enjoyment of our book buyer."
In lieu of flowers or for those wishing to make a donation in Mandel's memory, please consider the following organizations, which were among many that she generously supported: WeCan, Chatham Children's Fund and Mass Audubon.