Larry Heisey, OC (May 29, 1930 – May 28, 2009) was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He was president and chairman of Harlequin Enterprises Limited.
From 1971 to 1982, he was President of Harlequin Enterprises Limited. In 1971 under Heisey's leadership Harlequin bought Mills & Boon a publisher of romance novels making Harlequin the largest publisher of Romance novels in the world. From 1982 to 1990[2] Heisey served as Chairman of Harlequin. Described as a "marketing genius", he revolutionised the sale and marketing of books in the international publishing industry.[3] At Harlequin drawing upon his experiences at Procter & Gamble he first put free books in boxes of detergent and feminine sanitary napkins.[4] Under his leadership Harlequin was the first publisher to sell books in drug stores and grocery stores. He pioneered the mail order book club and, contrary to publishing industry practise, refused to sell publishing rights to foreign publishing companies establishing new publishing ventures in new markets.[3]
Heisey was involved with the Toronto French School where he was a Director from 1966 to 1973, Chairman from 1967 to 1971, and Foundation Trustee from 1978 to 1982. He was a Governor of the Banff Centre from 1982 to 1988. While a member of the York University Board of Governors, Heisey established The W. Lawrence Heisey Graduate Awards in Fine Arts that recognize outstanding ability and achievement for students in the Fine Arts graduate programme at York University.[5]
In 1994, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada[9] in recognition for being a "leader in Canadian business and philanthropy". He and his wife Ann Heisey donated a Vincent van Gogh painting called "A woman with a spade, seen from behind" c. 1885 to the Art Gallery of Ontario in 1997.[10]
References
^Publishing Romance: The History of an Industry, 1940s to the Present
By John Markert Mcfarland & Co Inc Pub 2016
^Grescoe, Paul (1996). The Merchants of Venus- Inside Harlequin and the Empire of Romance. Vancouver: Raincoast Books.
^ abKelly, Cathal (May 29, 2009). "Harlequin President was marketing genius". Toronto Star.
^Faircloth, Kelly (March 19, 2015). "How Harlequin became the most famous name in romance". Pictorial.