Roger W. Straus, Jr., 1917-2004

Read the NYT obituary, written by Christopher Lehmann-Haupt:

He busied himself with every aspect of his business. Despite his reliance on a stable of outstanding editors, he read manuscripts, sat in on editorial and sales meetings, and involved himself in the sale of subsidiary and international rights. In short, he made all the major decisions, both editorial and financial, that went into publishing each book.

Such was the appeal of Mr. Straus's way of doing business that Scott Turow, the author of best-selling legal thrillers, was moved to accept an advance of $200,000 from Farrar, Straus for his first novel, Presumed Innocent, rather than another publisher's $350,000, because Mr. Straus "had published more of the books I admired than any other publishing house."