John Macrae III

John Macrae III died on Feb. 1 2023 at his home in Manhattan. He was 91. His death was confirmed by his wife, the Manhattan gallerist Paula Cooper. Mr. Macrae was president and publisher of E.P. Dutton from 1968 to 1981, representing the third generation of his family to run the company. He then worked for 35 years at Henry Holt & Company, where he was editor in chief. Among the noteworthy books he published were “Passages,” Gail Sheehy’s study of the stages of a person’s development from early adulthood to midlife crisis and beyond, along with titles by the environmental activist Edward Abbey and the Argentine novelist Jorge Luis Borges. He had been retired since 2018. His father John Jr. was best known for his innovative marketing of A.A. Milne’s “Winnie-the-Pooh” books in America and for publishing Mickey Spillane’s popular detective novels. After graduating from the Kent School in Kent, Conn., he earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Harvard in 1954. His marriage to Frances Cummins ended in divorce. In addition to Ms. Cooper, whom he married in 1987, Mr. Macrae is survived by four children from his first marriage, John, Liza, Phebe and Annabel Macrae; two stepchildren, Lucas and Nick Cooper; six grandchildren; and one great-grandson, who was born after he died.