Peter Mayer (1936 – 2018), Publisher of the Overlook Editions of Freddy

We at the Friends of Freddy were saddened to hear of the death of Peter Mayer, former publisher of the Overlook Press.  When the Freddy books were out of print, the club made numerous attempts to find someone willing to republish them. One of our members, Wray Rominger, approached Peter to see if the Overlook Press might consider taking on this task. Peter, who was fond of the Freddy books in his childhood, readily agreed.  The Overlook editions, facsimiles to those originally published by Alfred A. Knopf, are now readily available on Amazon and in many public libraries. We owe Peter and the Overlook Press a huge debt of gratitude for making the Freddy books available to new readers and old fans alike.

We know him for the Freddy books, but the New York Times obituary below offers more insight into his extraordinary career.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/11/obituaries/peter-mayer-publisher-of-the-incendiary-satanic-verses-dies-at-82.html

This earlier article from a local newspaper is about the closing of Overlook’s Woodstock office and has a certain poignancy to it that makes it well worth reading.

http://woodstock.ulsterpublishing.com/printer_friendly/11404283

And here is the perspective of some of the publishing world:

https://www.thebookseller.com/news/giant-trade-publishing-peter-mayer-dies-784561

Finally, Peter Mayer on Web of Stories:

https://www.webofstories.com/play/peter.mayer/1