Jeanne Leiby, editor and director of the University literary magazine The Southern Review and associate professor of English, was killed in a car accident April 19, according to an LSU Media Relations news release.
Mary Katherine Callaway, director of the LSU Press, worked closely with Leiby because of the planned merger between the LSU Press and The Southern Review.
Callaway said she was shocked to hear of Leiby’s passing.
“It’s really a tragic death to take on,” she said.
Callaway said she has heard several faculty members and editors of other literary magazines across the country expressing their sympathies.
Callaway said Leiby will be missed because of what a great co-worker she was.
“She was very energetic,” Callaway said. “She loved the University, she loved Baton Rouge and she loved anything to do with the written word.”
Leiby became the magazine’s first female editor more than three years ago, according to the news release.
“No one had better ideas than Jeanne,” Callaway said.
Leiby previously held positions at the University of Central Florida, the University of Alabama, the University of Tennessee and Rutgers University, according to the release.
She had also edited The Florida Review at the University of Central Florida and Black Warrior Review at the University of Alabama.
“We are deeply saddened to learn of Jeanne Leiby’s tragic death,” Chancellor Michael Martin said in the release. “This is a great loss to the LSU community, both personally and professionally. The students, faculty and staff with whom she worked will miss her greatly.”
Callaway said she believes plans to merge the LSU Press and The Southern Review will continue through this tough time.
Details of the accident were not immediately available.
 
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Contact Rachel Warren at [email protected]