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 Grolier is one of the largest American publishers of general encyclopedias, including ''The Book of Knowledge'' (1910), '' The New Book of Knowledge'' (1966), ''The New Book of Popular Science'' (1972), ''Encyclopedia Americana'' (1945), ''Acade ...

. 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 t ...

'', '' 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 Groli ...

,'' and other reference works. Ryan helped middle and low income families afford in-home libraries by permitting customers 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 in the United Kingdom and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC in the United States) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be on ...

), 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 F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...

'', 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 general encyclopedia of any magnitude to be published in North America. 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 (colloquially known as Southie) is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay (Boston Harbor), Dorchester Bay. It has under ...

, 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 (Ireland), barony of Courceys and lies about southwest of Kinsale, on the R600 road (Ireland), R600 road. It is near Garrylucas and Garrettstown Blue Flag beach, Blue Fl ...

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, 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 Courtmac ...

, 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. The town is know for their pancake throwing contest held ...

, Ryan died in 1989 at his home in

Tenafly, New Jersey Tenafly () is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 15,409, an increase of 921 (+6.4%) from the 2010 census count of 14,488, which in turn reflected an ...

.John G. Ryan
, ''

The Record The Record may refer to: Music * The Record (Fear album), ''The Record'' (Fear album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear * The Record (Boygenius album), ''The Record'' (Boygenius album), a 2023 studio album by the indie rock supe ...

'', Feb 5, 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. It is owned by The ...

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