MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
April 13-20, 2006 Edition
Basic Books
Publisher Maguire
Dies at Age 47
NEW YORK, NY/4/10/2006Elizabeth Maguire, publisher of Basic Books, part of the Perseus Books Group, died April 8 after a battle with ovarian cancer. She was 47 years old.
Maguire, who championed African-American nonfiction, joined Basic in 2000 as vice president and associate publisher and editorial director. As publisher, a post she acquired in 2002, Maguire oversaw Basic Civitas, Counterpoint and Westview Press imprints. She also served on the Perseus books Group executive committee and was a member of the board of Columbia University Press and the University of Chicago Press. During her time at Basic, she published many distinguished African-Americans. She also published Catholic conservatives and gay authors, and had to her credit such bestsellers as The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida, and Rogue Nation by Clyde Prestowitz.
Maguire, a Harvard English major, began her publishing career at Cambridge University Press, served as executive editor of Oxford University Press for six years, and also served as executive editor at Addison Wesley Longmans trade group and as editorial director at Free Press before joining Basic.
Maguire also authored her own novel Thinner, Blonder, Whiter (Carroll & Graf, 2002), and was working on a book about the life of Constance Fenimore Woolson.
Mass was held at 10 a.m. April 11 at St. Ignatius Loyola Roman Catholic Church, at 988 Park Avenue. In lieu of flowers, the family requested donations to the American Cancer Society.
