Tim Mooney, who had a 37-year career at Penguin Random House, died September 19 after a short illness. He was 70.
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Mooney began working in the book world at Staver's, a Chicago bookstore. He joined Random House in 1989 as a trade sales representative and later was trade sales rep for B&N College, associate director of trade sales communication, national account manager for Baker & Taylor, and sales manager for children's. Most recently, he was sales manager for PRH Publisher Services.
In a memo to staff, Jaci Updike, chief revenue officer at PRH, wrote in part: "Tim absolutely loved his work and his colleagues. He was a brilliant reader, one of the best, and across all genres. He was known as quiet but thoughtful about his observations, and when he spoke, all listened, as they knew Tim would have a unique and important perspective. His perfectly timed humor and infectious grin were his hallmark, and those who had the benefit of his mentoring have important career stories with Tim to share.
"Tim was known as a true intellectual, and his curiosity knew no bounds. He completed a substantial number of accredited courses on a wide variety of topics at institutions like Yale, Stanford, Harvard. The variety of his interests were legendary: there were courses on legal topics, Social Behavior, Human Rights, Journalism, Economics, and many others. It is not surprising, then, to hear a story at his 35th service award ceremony about his taking time off to read all six volumes of Proust's Remembrance of Things Past. During that same ceremony, it was said that if one was lucky, they might experience the 'Wisdom of Mooney: sometimes you can fix it. And sometimes you just need to be patient.' And sometimes you need to find someone like Tim Mooney, someone wise and generous and someone you trust to be a kind of North Star. That was Tim Mooney for so many.
"What will be said of Tim to all who knew him was how very kind he was. What a truly, incredibly good person, and how much he impacted people's lives. He had the best sense of humor, and we will always remember his perfect timing for a funny quip and his fast and easy grin."