Today My Blog is Dedicated To My Publisher and Dear Friend, Nancy Aldrich-Ruenzel

Last week I heard the news that my long-time friend Nancy Aldrich-Ruenzel was retiring from her post as Publisher at Peachpit Press, the company that for as long as I can remember, has published all my books. For many years Nancy had led a team of some of the most creative, passionate, and talented people in modern book publishing history, and she and her team gave flight to an unparalleled body of work from some of the greatest educators of graphics, art and design of our time.

I’m dedicating my blog today to Nancy as my way of saying thanks for never compromising, for always striving to do what’s right by the reader, and for taking so many chances with my crazy book ideas over the years.

One of the things I loved most about working with Nancy was her love of the art of making books. It was just wired into her DNA, and she got such joy from the entire process, from the first inklings of an idea, to watching it mature and grow through the writing process and production journey, to overseeing it every step of the way as it moved through this cycle to the final printed book. Her passion and commitment to “just making great books” made being one of her authors something very special and something that I’ll dearly miss as she moves onto this next phase of her life.

Nancy is a true pioneer in this industry, and her vision for educational books for creative people really made a difference in so many people’s lives and careers and won her the respect and admiration of both her peers and her competitors alike. It’s hard for me to imagine Nancy not steering the ship, as we’ve worked together so closely over the years, and her wisdom, humor, and drive will be missed by everyone that’s ever worked with her.

She left Peachpit in very capable hands without a doubt, with a wonderful team she put together who will continue her legacy and continue making great books for many years to come, but I’ll always miss our heartfelt talks about the industry, the future of publishing and content creation, the evolution of education, and which restaurant we have to check out next time I’m in San Francisco.

Beyond her gift for publishing and the business side of things, Nancy is just an awesome, down-to-earth, fun person to be around, and even more importantly, she’s a sincerely good person who genuinely wants the best for those around her, and that’s about the greatest compliment I could pay anyone.

I’ll be forever grateful to Nancy for all her guidance, her insights, and her friendship these many years, and I wish her and her wonderful family all the joys and quality time the gift of retirement can bring.

Thank you, Nancy. It’s truly been an honor to be one of your authors, and even though you’ll be watching from the sidelines from here on out, I’ll still be out there trying to write books that would make you proud.

Much love and lots of hugs,

-Scott, Kalebra, and all your friends and fans here at KelbyOne

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4 comments
  1. Scott, you nailed it. Thanks for giving kudos to friends while they can hear it and receive it. Too often we only hear about great people at a time they can’t hear it, namely in eulogies. You are a classy guy to heap praise on friends and colleagues with such heartfelt honesty.

  2. Thoughtful and eloquent post, Scott – I have only been writing for Peachpit a few years, but I understand how deeply Nancy has affected the digital art industry. She has helped lots of authors find voices in print, to the advantage of the community at large, and for that we are all grateful.

  3. Hi Scott nice to meet you.

    I just found out about you changing from Nikon to Canon and watch the whole video you made about it, and why the change, after watch the video twice,I noticed something that you said! You don’t use your old gear anymore!!! Well here just an idea that came to me, I do love Nikon I’m been shooting with Nikon for the last 3 or 4 years and i have a Nikon D5000 old but do the job so far, even when sometimes I need more from it, I’m been working amateur all this time just helping friends with the CD covers and doing music videos for them, few models start their portfolios as well, working in one for myself as well! I’m not a big fan to work with people truth been said, I like more landscape and animals I really believe the outdoors are amazing clouds, mountains and trees, there is so many colors I can’t get enough ever.

    About me just few days ago turned 28 years old, been living here in USA for 4 years now, I’m Cuban and I love photography, musician or at least went to school to play trumpet for few years, in my free time I produce audio-visuals and photography for myself and friends as they call it X-treme Photography since i go hiking just to get better views and the few times I’ve fallen my gear never been hurted, me in change just few bruises and one more than other broken ribs but worthy everytime since i do believe those photos were and are pretty amazing. I live in Henderson Nevada where is kind of hard get plenty of views like the ones i wich find and i travel as much as i can, when i can lol to get different scenarios meaning I go to California A-LOT.

    So pretty much after been said all this my question or request would be if you don’t use your old gear anymore, can I have it? Would you donate it to me? to been able to follow my dream of been a pro photographer as well!

    Pd: Here some of my work

    https://www.eyeem.com/u/Vikiing0

    https://plus.google.com/u/0/+YasnierJauma/posts/p/pub

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