Former HarperCollins c.e.o. Terry Kitson dies

Terry Kitson, former c.e.o. of HarperCollins UK and Australia, has died following a short illness. 

Kitson, who managed both businesses in 1990, died on Sunday 3rd July, his family confirmed in a short statement yesterday (4th July).

Kitson started out as a sales rep with Corgi Books at Transworld in the mid 1960s, before moving to Granada Publishing a decade later in the role of sales manager.

There he rose the ranks to become sales director, and around the mid 1970s became m.d. for its paperback division. He eventually became m.d. for Granada, which was acquired by William Collins in 1983.

In 1986, Kitson moved to Australia to become m.d. for Collins Australia & New Zealand. When Collins was sold to News International and was merged with Harper & Row to become HarperCollins in 1990, Kitson managed the UK business as well as the ANZ business for a short period, when he succeeded Sonia Land as chief executive of Collins in March 1990, after which he became chairman for HarperCollins ANZ, before retiring in 1994.

His funeral service will be held tomorrow afternoon (6th July) in Booragoon, a suburb of Perth in Western Australia.