Tweet
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...495_story.html
Known to legions of radio listeners for her exuberant coverage of books and culture, Petra Mayer was a self-described “resident nerd” at NPR. She learned to read at age 3 and was, by her account, an “avid reader” by preschool. She seemed to consume pages not by the word but by the paragraph, and reserved special affection for works of romance, fantasy and science fiction — the genres that snootier readers sniffed at and more self-important critics disdained.
Ms. Mayer died Nov. 13 at a hospital in Silver Spring, Md. She was 46 and had a massive pulmonary embolism, said her parents, Jeff and Elke Mayer. In the days after her death, colleagues recalled Ms. Mayer as a person of unbridled intellect who, through her work on air and behind the scenes, helped broaden NPR’s coverage of books to encompass the full range of literary pleasures.
“I really can’t think of any other producer who had her collection of wonderful and wild cultural fringes,” Jacki Lyden, formerly a regular substitute host for the NPR program “Weekend All Things Considered,” said in an interview, remarking on the depth of Ms. Mayer’s reservoir of cultural knowledge.
Known to legions of radio listeners for her exuberant coverage of books and culture, Petra Mayer was a self-described “resident nerd” at NPR. She learned to read at age 3 and was, by her account, an “avid reader” by preschool. She seemed to consume pages not by the word but by the paragraph, and reserved special affection for works of romance, fantasy and science fiction — the genres that snootier readers sniffed at and more self-important critics disdained.
Ms. Mayer died Nov. 13 at a hospital in Silver Spring, Md. She was 46 and had a massive pulmonary embolism, said her parents, Jeff and Elke Mayer. In the days after her death, colleagues recalled Ms. Mayer as a person of unbridled intellect who, through her work on air and behind the scenes, helped broaden NPR’s coverage of books to encompass the full range of literary pleasures.
“I really can’t think of any other producer who had her collection of wonderful and wild cultural fringes,” Jacki Lyden, formerly a regular substitute host for the NPR program “Weekend All Things Considered,” said in an interview, remarking on the depth of Ms. Mayer’s reservoir of cultural knowledge.
Comment