U.S. publishing president killed in Italy speedboat crash

A New York-based publishing executive was killed Thursday off Italy’s Amalfi Coast, when the boat she was riding with her husband and two children crashed into a sailing vessel, her company confirmed Friday.

Adrienne Vaughan, 45, was the president of Bloomsbury U.S., a branch of the British publisher that’s behind the release of the “Harry Potter” book series and many others.

Vaughan and her family were taking a “gommone” or motorboat ride while vacationing in Italy when they collided with a 45-meter vessel known as the Tortuga, which was carrying 80 tourists, some of whom were celebrating a wedding. After being tossed into the water, Vaughan was allegedly injured by the propellers of the other boat.

The Amalfi Coast Guard unit responded to the scene and pulled Vaughan from the water, but she died by the time a helicopter ambulance arrived, local news stations reported. Her husband, Mike White, was hospitalized with a shoulder injury while the couple’s two young children were not injured.

Salerno officials are conducting an investigation into the incident. Initial toxicology reports show that the skipper of the motorboat may have had more than the legal limit of alcohol in his system when the tragedy occurred.

The captain of the Tortuga did not test positive for any substances during initial testing and is not considered part of the investigation, said the office of the public prosecutor of Salerno.

Vaughan held a master’s degree in business from NYU and had worked at the Disney Book Group and Oxford University Press before joining Bloomsbury. She also served on the board of the Association of American Publishers (AAP).

“Adrienne Vaughan was a leader of dazzling talent and infectious passion and had a deep commitment to authors and readers,” said the AAP’s board chair, Julia Reidhead, and its president and CEO, Maria A. Pallante, in a joint statement.

“Most of all she was an extraordinary human being, and those of us who had the opportunity to work with her will be forever fortunate,” they added.

With News Wire Services