Biography.guide
Home › People › Publisher › John G. Ryan
Portrait of John G. Ryan

John G. Ryan

1910 – 1989

American publisher

Don't just read it — keep itBiographies to ownE-book · Audio · Video From $7 →

About John G. Ryan

Lived 1910 – 1989 (aged 78–79). John G. Ryan was a publisher.

John Gerard Ryan (1910–1989) was an American publisher, president of P.F. Collier & Son Corporation and of The Richards Company, Inc., a subsidiary of Grolier Incorporated. He was pivotal to the 1950s and 1960s expansion of the American encyclopedia business that placed reference libraries in millions of homes. He published and marketed Collier's Encyclopedia, The Harvard Classics, the New Book of Knowledge, the American Peoples Encyclopedia, and other reference works. Ryan helped middle and low income families afford in-home libraries by permitting customers to pay over time with small monthly payments.

Ryan's profitable leadership of P.F. Collier & Son supplied the cash flow that kept its parent company, The Crowell-Collier Publishing Company (later renamed Macmillan, Inc), solvent in the 1950s as it closed its money-losing magazines, including Collier's, and grew into one of the world's largest book publishers. At P.F. Collier & Son, he employed the conservative intellectual William Terry Couch as editor of Collier’s Encyclopedia and instructed Couch to begin compilation of what became Collier’s Encyclopedia’s 24-volume 1962 edition. At Grolier, publishers of Encyclopedia Americana, he built The Richards Company, Inc., into Grolier's highest sales volume book division. Ryan also pioneered the sale of American encyclopedias in overseas markets.

Personal life John Gerard Ryan was born July 11, 1910, in South Boston, Massachusetts. He was the eldest son of Michael Ryan of Gortnacrusha, Ballinspittle, County Cork, Ireland and Julia McCarthy Ryan of Grange More, Timoleague, also in County Cork. He was educated in Boston’s public schools. In 1937, he married Veronica Conlon, of Brooklyn, New York. They had six children. A former resident of Teaneck, New Jersey, Ryan died in 1989 at his home in Tenafly, New Jersey.

Biography shop

Don’t just read it —
keep it.

Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.

  • E-book
  • Audio
  • Video
Browse the shop — from $7

Instant download · yours to keep · every purchase keeps this site free

Important facts

Born
1910
Birth century
Died
1989
Occupation
Also known as
John Gerard Ryan

People in John G. Ryan's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped John G. Ryan's

Frequently asked questions

Who was John G. Ryan?

American publisher

When was John G. Ryan born?

John G. Ryan was born in 1910.

When did John G. Ryan die?

John G. Ryan died in 1989.

What was John G. Ryan's occupation?

John G. Ryan was a publisher.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: John G. Ryan

· Wikidata: Q110795187

· DBpedia: John G. Ryan

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). John G. Ryan. https://biography.guide/john-g-ryan/

MLA: "John G. Ryan." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/john-g-ryan/.

Chicago: "John G. Ryan." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/john-g-ryan/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

Page generated 2026-09-27 05:21 UTC