Susan Hirschman To Retire

Susan Hirschman, the respected founder and publisher of Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins, will retire in August after almost 50 years in children's publishing. Hirschman began her career in 1954, as a secretary in the children's department of Alfred A. Knopf. She spent the next 10 years at Harper & Row, where she worked with the legendary children's editor Ursula Nordstrom. In 1964, Hirschman was named editor-in-chief of the children's department at Macmillan, and in 1974, she founded Greenwillow Books at William Morrow and Company.

Throughout her career, Hirschman launched many authors and artists, including Kevin Henkes, Arnold and Anita Lobel, Ann Jonas, Chris Crutcher, Diana Wynne Jones, Tana Hoban, and Jack Prelutsky. She also worked with authors such as Charlotte Zolotow, Sid Fleischman, Aliki, and Vera B. Williams. "We are immensely proud of Susan's work," says Susan Katz, president and publisher of HarperCollins Children's Books. Virginia Duncan, executive editor at Greenwillow, will become vice president and publisher upon Hirschman's retirement.