From a New York Times obit by Sam Roberts headlined “Richard E. Snyder, 90, Dies; Drove Simon & Schuster to New Heights”:

Richard E. Snyder, the imperious publishing executive who built Simon & Schuster into the nation’s largest book publisher, died at his home in Los Angeles.

Through unmitigated ambition, tenacity and gut intuition, and without ever becoming an engaged reader himself, Mr. Snyder helped transform a New York-based industry of clubby literary connoisseurs into a global enterprise made up of conglomerates run by celebrity moguls.