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| Kathy Hourigan | |
Kathy Hourigan, v-p & managing editor, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, will retire in December after a remarkable and legendary 60-year career that was celebrated just three weeks ago. In a letter announcing the retirement, Reagan Arthur, Knopf executive v-p, publisher, described Hourigan as "part train conductor (keeping everything and everyone running on track), part air-traffic controller (juggling hundreds of projects at a time while averting disaster at every turn), and part encyclopedia (able to instantly cite a past or future publication date, price, or subtitle). Kathy is 100% a force of nature: determined, loyal, indefatigable, and above all, fiercely devoted to the principles of quality and excellence that are the bedrock of our publishing philosophy."
The longest tenured employee at Penguin Random House, Hourigan joined Knopf in 1963 and has worked with all four Knopf publishers: Alfred A. Knopf, her longtime friend Robert Gottlieb, Sonny Mehta, and Arthur, who noted: "I don't have to guess how much she meant to them, because I know what she's meant to me, and to all of us lucky enough to know and work with her."
Doubleday publisher Bill Thomas recalled that when the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group was formed in 2008, Hourigan suddenly "had to work with a publisher with its own long-standing quirks and traditions. Simultaneously, she had to learn and communicate completely new digital book-making processes, as well as e-book adaption protocols. She managed all of this quickly and brilliantly. Immediately she earned the respect and affection of her new Doubleday colleagues, bringing the same passion for quality to Doubleday's books that long distinguished her tenure at Knopf. She is particularly beloved by the younger staff at Doubleday, whom she mentors with kindness and patience."
Hourigan has guided thousands of books into publication over the years, working closely with several landmark Knopf authors. "It's nearly impossible to encapsulate the scope of Kathy's impact on the world of publishing but suffice to say that time and again Kathy has gone above and beyond, doing whatever needed to be done to get our books into the world," Arthur observed.
Her five-decade collaboration with Robert A. Caro remains key to her Knopf legacy. Caro said: "In losing Katherine Hourigan, the publishing house of Knopf is losing more than just the unparalleled institutional memory built up over the course of 60 years. It is losing a link to, and a key to, its greatness. Kathy worked on my books for almost 50 years, and during all that time I learned to trust absolutely her literary sensibility--when she voiced an opinion on one of my manuscripts, I learned I had better listen to it--and her integrity: I don't think Kathy ever uttered a word she didn't mean."
Arthur wrote that Hourigan "has not only been a wonderful colleague, she's also been both mentor and friend to generations of KDPG staff. We will miss her cheerful presence, her multiple question marks, and her ability to perform miracles on a daily basis, but I'm happy to say that her editorial work with Robert A. Caro will continue into the future. Long the beating heart of Knopf, Kathy has devoted unwavering service to our authors, their books, and the family of Knopf Doubleday. Please join me in thanking Kathy for her invaluable contributions to this company, and in wishing her the very best for the new chapter ahead."