Ryan's profitable leadership of P.F. Collier & Son supplied the cash flow that kept its parent company, The
Crowell-Collier Publishing Company (later renamed
Macmillan, Inc), solvent in the 1950s as it closed its money-losing magazines, including Collier's,[9][10] and grew into one of the world's largest book publishers.[11][12] At P.F. Collier & Son, he employed the conservative intellectual
William Terry Couch as editor of Collier’s Encyclopedia and instructed Couch to begin compilation of what became Collier’s Encyclopedia’s 24-volume 1962 edition.[13][14] At Grolier, publishers of Encyclopedia Americana, he built The Richards Company, Inc., into Grolier's highest sales volume book division.[15] Ryan also pioneered the sale of American encyclopedias in overseas markets.[16]
Personal life
John Gerard Ryan was born July 11, 1910, in
South Boston, Massachusetts. He was the eldest son of Michael Ryan of Gortnacrusha,
Ballinspittle,
County Cork, Ireland and Julia McCarthy Ryan of Grange More,
Timoleague, also in County Cork. He was educated in Boston’s public schools. In 1937, he married Veronica Conlon, of Brooklyn, New York. They had six children.[17] A former resident of
Teaneck, New Jersey,[18] Ryan died in 1989 at his home in
Tenafly, New Jersey .[19]
References
^Kaslow, Joseph (29 Dec 1955). "Named by Collier". New York Herald Tribune. p. A7.
^The Record, Hackensack, New Jersey, Feb 05, 1989 · Page 35
^Encyclopaedia Britannica ends print run, Robert Channick, L.A. TIMES ARCHIVES, 14 Mar 2012, Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)
^"300 Millionth Book". The Morning Call. 31 Mar 1957. p. 39.
^Shiflett, Orvin Lee (2013). William Terry Couch and the Politics of Academic Publishing: An Editor's Career as Lightning Rod for Controversy. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company. p. 147.
ISBN978-0786499816.
^P.F. Collier Associates (1958). Twenty Five Eventful Years in the History of P.F. Collier Corporation, 1933-1958. New York, New York: P.F. Collier and Son Corporation.
^"CE Acceptance By Libraries Is Sales Aid,” Collier’s Cyclorama, Vol 2. No 4., P.F. Collier and Son Corporation, New York NY, July 1957. Page 2
^“Collier Book Output Passes 200 Millions,” Collier’s Cyclorama, Vol 1. No 2., P.F. Collier and Son Corporation, New York NY, March 1956. Page 1
^Publisher Eyes Dividends in ‘58” The Bridgeport Telegram, Bridgeport, Connecticut, 17 Jul 1957, Page 32. Retrieved 11 Jun 2021
^Colliers, ‘Companion” to stop publishing in Jan.". Star-Gazette (Elmira, New York) 15 Dec 1956, Sat Page 2. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
^Crowell Collier to Absorb Macmillan Publishing Firm” The Miami Herald, Miami, Florida, 30 Jun 1960, Page 44. Retrieved 11 Jun 2021.
^“Crowell Collier is Buying Control of Macmillan,” The New York Times, New York, NY. 30 Jun 1960, Page 27. Retrieved 11 Jun 2021
^Orvin Lee Shiflett William Terry Couch and the Politics of Academic Publishing: An Editor's Career as Lightning Rod for Controversy (Jefferson, North Carolina): McFarland and Company, Inc. 2013) Page154.
^“New Collier’s Encyclopedia Has Astronaut Glenn’s Orbital Flight.” Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, Kentucky) 10 Jun 1962, Page 65. Retrieved 11 Jun 2021