HarperCollins Publishers Names Michael E. Morrison Publisher of Morrow/Avon

Posted on May 19, 2000

HarperCollins Publishers has announced that Michael E. Morrison has been named Publisher of Morrow/Avon, one of four operating divisions that make up the company's General Books Group. Morrison, who will continue in his role as Executive Vice President of the General Books Group, will be responsible for all operations of the division, overseeing editorial, publishing, marketing, managing editorial and publicity for the William Morrow, Avon, HarperTorch, Eos and HarperEntertainment imprints. Morrison, who has also been appointed to the company's Executive Committee, will report to Cathy Hemming, President and Group Publisher of HarperCollins General Books.

Morrison has been serving as Executive Vice President and Group Publishing Director for the General Books Group since he joined HarperCollins in December 1998. In addition to his new role, Morrison will continue to oversee the HarperAudio imprint as well as the Large Print Editions imprint that he launched for the company in 1999.

``I'm delighted that Michael has agreed to take on this critical role. With his tremendous depth of experience in publishing, his leadership skills and his proven ability to run and grow a business, this is a natural next step for him,'' said Hemming. ``But more importantly, it affirms out commitment to further strengthen the Morrow/Avon publishing program.''

Reporting to Morrison are Lisa Queen, Vice President, Associate Publisher and Editorial Director of William Morrow and Jennifer Hershey, Vice President, Associate Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Avon, HarperTorch, Eos and HarperEntertainment. In addition, Carrie Kania, Associate Publisher of HarperAudio and Large Print Editions; Laura Leonard, Director of Publicity and Libby Jordan, Director of Marketing for Morrow/Avon will report to Morrison as well as Paul Lance, Director, HarperCollins West Coast Office; Kim Lewis, Executive Managing Editor and Darlene Delillo, Vice President and Deputy Publisher of Avon.

HarperCollins is a leading publisher and is part of News America Publishing Group, a division of News Corporation (NWS). Headquartered in New York, the company has publishing groups in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia. Its publishing groups include the HarperCollins General Books Group, HarperCollins Children's Books Group, Zondervan, HarperCollins UK, HarperCollins Canada and HarperCollins Australia. The HarperCollins General Books Group is made up of four operating divisions: HarperTrade, Morrow/Avon, HarperInformation and HarperSanFrancisco.