Penguin Press Founder and Editor was 76

Ann Godoff, an editor and publisher for Penguin Press, died on Feb. 24 in Albany, N.Y. She was 76.

Godoff died from complications of bone cancer in a hospital, her partner, Annik LaFarge confirmed to the New York Times.

Godoff spent more than three decades as the head of Random House, nurturing the careers of numerous novelists and nonfiction writers. Her more celebrated authors include Salman Rushdie, Zadie Smith, Ron Chernow, E.L. Doctorow, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Thomas Pynchon, Tom Brokaw, William Styron and Alice Waters.

At Random House, Godoff was named executive editor in 1991 and rose to editor-in-chief and publisher of its trade publishing group before being fired in a corporate restructuring in 2003. Eight days later, Godoff founded the American hardcover imprint, Penguin Press, where she served as editor in chief and publisher.

Some of Godoff’s latest projects include Gisèle Pelicot’s memoir “A Hymn to Life,” California Governor Gavin Newsom’s memoir “Young Man in a Hurry,” and Michael Pollan’s “A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness.”

Godoff was born in Manhattan and enrolled at Bennington College in Vermont, but later transferred to New York University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in film.

Godoff also previously worked for Simon & Schuster from 1980 to 1986, until the Atlantic Monthly Press hired her to be its editor-in-chief. She joined Random House in 1991, becoming its executive editor, a post she held until 1996, and then president and editor-in-chief until 2003.

Godoff was previously married to Malcolm Drummond from 1973 to 2012. The same year, she married LaFarge, who is an editor, author and photographer. In addition to her partner, Godoff is survived by her brother, Peter.