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 ''Collier's Encyclopedia'' is a discontinued general encyclopedia first published in 1949 by P. F. Collier and Son in the United States. With ''Encyclopedia Americana'' and ''Encyclopædia Britannica, Collier's Encyclopedia'' became one of the th ...

'', '' The Harvard Classics'', the ''

New Book of Knowledge ''The New Book of Knowledge'' is an encyclopedia published by Grolier USA. The encyclopedia was a successor to the ''Book of Knowledge'', published from 1912 to 1965. This was a topically arranged encyclopedia described as an "entirely new work" ...

'', the ''

American Peoples Encyclopedia The ''American Peoples Encyclopedia'' is a discontinued general encyclopedia first published in 1948 by Spencer Press Inc., and, initially, marketed exclusively by Sears Roebuck and Company. A substantially revised edition was published by Grolier ...

,'' and other reference works. Ryan helped middle and low income families afford in-home libraries by permitting costumers 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 Crowell-Collier Publishing Company was an American publisher that owned the popular magazines ''Collier's'', ''Woman's Home Companion'' and ''The American Magazine''. Crowell's subsidiary, P.F. Collier and Son, published ''Collier's Encyclopedia,' ...

(later renamed

Macmillan, Inc Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...

), solvent in the 1950s as it closed its money-losing magazines, including ''

Collier's ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Collie ...

'', and grew into one of the world's largest book publishers. At P.F. Collier & Son, he employed the conservative intellectual

William Terry Couch William Terry Couch (1901–1989) was a U.S. intellectual and academic editor, known primarily for his work as director of the University of Chicago Press in the 1940s, and his work as Editor in Chief of ''Collier's Encyclopedia'' in the 1950s. He a ...

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 ''Encyclopedia Americana'' is a general encyclopedia written in American English. It was the first major multivolume encyclopedia that was published in the United States. With ''Collier's Encyclopedia'' and ''Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclo ...

'', 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 South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformati ...

, Massachusetts. He was the eldest son of Michael Ryan of Gortnacrusha,

Ballinspittle Ballinspittle () is a village in County Cork, Ireland. It is in the barony of Courceys and lies about southwest of Kinsale, on the R600 road. It is near Garrylucas and Garrettstown Blue Flag beaches. The village is a community with new housin ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, Ireland and Julia McCarthy Ryan of Grange More,

Timoleague Timoleague () is a village in the eastern division of Carbery East in County Cork, Ireland. It is located along Ireland's southern coast between Kinsale and Clonakilty, on the estuary of the Argideen River. Nearby is the village of Courtmacsher ...

, 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 Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, th ...

, Ryan died in 1989 at his home in

Tenafly, New Jersey Tenafly () is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 census the borough had a population of 15,409,

.Obituaries
''

The Record The Record may refer to: Music * ''The Record'' (album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear * The Records, an English power pop band * '' Their Greatest Hits: The Record'', a 2001 greatest-hits album by the pop-music group Bee Ge ...

'', 05 Feb 1989, p. 35. Accessed February 1, 2022, via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, John G. 1910 births 1989 deaths American publishers (people) Collier (publishing company) People from Teaneck, New Jersey People from Tenafly, New Jersey