FAREWELL TO OUR FOUNDER

We are in mourning.

 

It is with great sadness that we have to say goodbye to Hejo Emons, our publisher. He died on August 20, 2023 at 11:11 a.m., two days after his 73rd birthday, in his hometown of Cologne.

 

Hejo was not only our publishing director, but he was also a husband, father, grandfather, brother, confidant, comrade, friend. His door was always open. Staff, authors, friends and of course his family went in and out of his office. He always had an open ear for everyone, not just in professional matters. You always knew he was there as a part of the team in his low-key, natural way. He never forgot any of our birthdays, he made us sandwiches at the book fair, he brought us a wheel of cheese from vacation every year, and in the summer he went around the publishing house handing out ice cream. These rituals were important to him and to us. He was a family man, and that's how he ran his publishing house.

 

We owe him more than we can put into words. His spirit, humor, and empathy will be greatly missed. We can count on our hands the days he was not in the office over the years. He loved his work, his life's work, the publishing house. Right to the end. Even though we knew that Hejo was ill, we are stunned by his empty office. Not being able to talk to him anymore is incomprehensible and will remain so.

 

Hejo had long since settled the future of the publishing house. His daughter Franziska Emons-Hausen will lead the business in his spirit. Please give the family and all of us at the publishing house some time to grieve. And then we will keep on creating wonderful books, just as Hejo would have wished.

 

Emons Verlag