Peter Mayer

Peter Michael Mayer (28 March 1936 – 11 May 2018) was a British-born American independent publisher who was president of The Overlook Press/Peter Mayer Publishers, Inc., a Woodstock, New York–based publishing company he founded with his father in 1971. At the time of Overlook's founding, Mayer was head of Avon Books, a large New York–based paperback publisher. From 1978 to 1996, Mayer was CEO of Penguin Books, where he introduced a flexible style in editorial, marketing, and production. During his tenure, he was credited with reviving the company into "the most formidable and admired publisher in the English language". Recently, Mayer financially revived both Ardis, a publisher of Russian literature in English, and Duckworth, an independent publishing house in the UK.

Born to a Jewish family in London, England, on 28 March 1936, Mayer migrated to the United States in 1939. He was raised in Kew Gardens, Queens, New York City. The book led to a major argument with Ayatollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, issuing a fatwā instructing Muslims to kill the author. Mayer himself also became the recipient of threats. His label aimed to be "a home for distinguished books that had been 'overlooked' by larger houses".

Under his presidency, The Overlook Press experienced a period of growth. Most notably, in 2002, they acquired Ardis Publishing, an imprint dedicated to Russian literature. This acquisition was followed up in 2003 by Mayer's decision to purchase Duckworth, which had gone into receivership. He remained President of The Overlook Press until his death in 2018. He also received many industry awards, including the Foundation of Indian Publishers' and Booksellers' Association Award for Outstanding Contribution to International Publishing (1996) and recognition as a Literary Market Place Most Distinguished Publisher. Mayer was also given a Lifetime Achievement Award from the London Book Fair (2008), and the Russian "Big Book Prize" for Distinguished International Achievement (2011).