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The NPR Culture desk’s books editor, Petra Mayer, is no more. She passed away on November 13.
In an email, Nancy Barnes, NPR’s senior vice president for news, said that Petra Mayer died at Holy Cross Hospital in Maryland because of pulmonary embolism. Barnes wrote that everyone would miss Mayer.
Mayer’s colleagues knew her as a smart girl with some sarcastic humor and loyalty. Books and culture editor Rose Friedman said that she was like the keeper of a certain wonderfulness of NPR and was the spirit of the place.
Producer and movie editor of All Things Considered, Mallory Yu, said that her passion and enthusiasm were indelible and was generous about sharing both with her. Producer and editor of the Culture desk, Beth Novey, described Mayer as a joyful and kind colleague, collaborator and friend.
About Petra Mayer in brief
Petra Mayer was an editor at NPR Books and an expert in literature, mostly genre fiction. People could also hear her on radio and in an edition of Pop Culture Happy Hour.
Mayer was reportedly around 35 to 45 years old. Her exact age remains unknown since there is no information on her date of birth. She was an American by nationality and was of white ethnicity.
Details related to her parents are currently unavailable. While appearing on Pop Culture Happy Hour, she shared her passion with readers and listeners by reviewing science fiction, fantasy, romance, thrillers, comic books alongside her reporting at Comic-Con and contribution to the Book Concierge, a yearly recommendation tool for NPR.
She started working at NPR as an engineering assistant in 1994 and was also a student at Amherst College. She was a news writer in 1997 at WBUR, an NPR member station in Boston. She received her master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and was an audio editor at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty for two years.
Petra Mayer was active on social media and had an Instagram account under the handle @ooobacht. She had around 60,300 followers on Instagram and had a Twitter account with about 30,000 followers.
