WILL MURPHY

Will Murphy, a longtime book editor and literary agent, died on February 1 at his home in New York City. He was 57.

The cause of death was a heart attack, said his wife, Sheila O'Shea.

Murphy was a longtime editor at Random House. His authors included President Joe Biden, Former US Secretary of Defense James Mattis, David Brooks, Salman Rushdie, Nassim Taleb, Reza Aslan, Julia Angwin, Edmund Morris, Bing West, Michael Oren, and Pope Francis. He also worked with Former US Senator Lamar Alexander, Jon Meacham, and Bernard-Henri Lévy.

At Random House, Murphy published 31 New York Times bestsellers, including seven that reached #1. While also at Random House, Murphy conceived and branded a line of paperback classics for the Modern Library, with more than 300 books published during his tenure. Most recently, he was an agent at Folio Literary Management.

Early in his career, Murphy spent several years running the humanities program at the University of Minnesota Press and was the literary editor at the University of California Press.

William Colin Murphy was born in Cornwall, England on July 22, 1968 to Patrick Murphy, a college professor, and Linda Goldenberg, a teacher and author. He graduated from Bard College with high honors, and he did graduate work at the University of California, Berkeley.

In addition to his wife and his mother, Murphy is survived by his sister, Sara Goldenberg of Beacon, NY.

A funeral service will be held on Wednesday, February 11 at 3:00 pm at The Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, Park Avenue and 84th Street, followed by a reception from 4:00-6:00 pm in Wallace Hall at St. Ignatius Loyola. All are welcome.

The service will be live streamed at:
https://www.youtube.com/live/wy6YaCgbrlE

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Will Murphy can be made to Memorial Sloan Kettering:
https://secure2.convio.net/mskcc/site/TR?px=5858947&pg=personal&fr_id=4503