04 August 2023 , 10:46
996
0
The boss of the publishing house behind the Harry Potter series has died in a horror speedboat crash in Italy. Adrienne Vaughan, president of Bloomsbury USA, was killed in the speedboat crash on the Amalfi Coast, near the southern city of Naples, while onboard with her husband and two children.
Adrienne, 45, and her husband Mike along with their children, Leanna, 14, and Mason, 11, were holidaying on Italy's coast when they chartered a boat on Thursday 3 August. However, at around 6:30pm their boat collided with a tourist vessel with 85 people on board celebrating a wedding. It has been reported Adrienne was thrown into the water and fatally struck by the boat's propellers.
Emergency services including a helicopter and ambulances rushed to the scene near to Fiordo di Furore, but the mum-of-two was sadly pronounced dead. Adrienne's husband Mike was also thrown from the boat and has suffered series limb injuries. The children are said to be uninjured but in shock. While the skipper of the boat was also injured and taken to hospital with Mike in Castiglione di Ravello.
Adrienne was on holiday with her husband and two children (Facebook)An investigation into the collision has now been launched by the Amalfi Port Authority. It is not currently clear how the two boats collided. Adrienne became president of Bloomsbury publishing house in 2021, the American branch of the British publishing house which has published all seven of the Harry Potter books. She had been involved in famous projects throughout her career, including the ground-breaking Harry Potter series.
From 2015 to 2018 she had worked for the Disney publishing group. Adrienne’s background spun both children’s and academic publishing and included large international companies as well as a start-up. She began her publishing career at Scholastic. She was described as "charismatic true leader" as a former colleague wrote on LinkedIn: "She was my coach and my mentor. I loved working with her every day. It was always ready to help others."
Hogwarts Legacy introduces trans character but fans quickly spot issue with name
Just two days before the tragedy, the family of four from New York had visited the city of Rome and had taken photos outside iconic landmarks including the Trevi Fountain and Colosseum.