Larry Ashmead, editor of Asimov, Hillerman and other writers, dies at age 78 in NY

Longtime book editor Larry Ashmead dies at 78

NEW YORK — Larry Ashmead, a former book editor who worked with Isaac Asimov, Tony Hillerman and other authors, has died.

His former publisher, HarperCollins, announced Friday that the 78-year-old died at a hospital in Hudson, N.Y., after a brief illness.

Ashmead was a native of Rochester in western New York. He received a doctorate in geology from Yale University.

He worked in publishing for 43 years, first at Doubleday and eventually at HarperCollins. He retired from there in 2003.

Ashmead edited works on topics as diverse as science fiction and crime. He was known for his fascination with words and wordplay and compiled “Bertha Venation And Hundreds of Other Funny Names of Real People,” published in 2007 and including such entries as Roger Gotobed and Ida Slaptor.