Members of the UW Press community will be saddened to learn of the death of Julidta Tarver, longtime editor at the University of Washington Press.

Lita began working at the press as a graduate student in classics in 1966 and became managing editor in the mid-seventies as well as an acquiring editor before retiring in 2007. Her acquisitions focused on Western and Pacific Northwest history and environmental history, as she served as the in-house editor of our Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books series. Lita was beloved by all who worked with her for her gracious manner, good humor, and hospitality, as well as her editorial expertise and broad, cross-disciplinary knowledge. The Pacific Northwest Historians Guild, in recognizing the press’s contributions to the field, praised Lita as the person who most personified the press’s mission in regional publishing, noting that for decades, “most of the press publications dealing with our region passed through her hands in one way or another.” In retirement, she enjoyed freelance editing and traveling to represent publishers at conferences.

Please see Lita’s obituary for more about her life and a recording of her memorial event.