Peter W. Kaplan, who served as editor for the New York Observer for 15 years, died on Friday at the age of 59 in Manhattan.
His brother, James, said Kaplan passed away from cancer, The New York Times reports.
Kaplan was the longest lasting editor for the Observer, which under his time there became popular with the same group the newspaper sought to poke. The Observer, which is printed on pinkish paper aimed to report on "finance, media, real estate, politics, society, tech and culture with an insider's perspective, a keen sense of curiosity and a sharp wit."
The New Republic wrote a profile on Kaplan and noted that "It's hard to find a major publication right now, in print or online, that's not in some way flavored by the old Observer." It adds, "Subtract Kaplan from the media landscape of the past 20 years and you lose The Awl, much of Gawker and a good bit of Politico too."
According to Variety, Kaplan was known for hiring writers who would go on to be influential in their own right.
He hired Candace Bushnell to write the column "Sex and the City," in which the hit HBO show was based upon.
Kaplan was most recently the editorial director of Fairchild Fashion Media. The editor is survived by wife and four children, three from a previous marriage.
image: Wikimedia Commons
