About Diana

I’ve spent my career writing for hire or employed in the publishing business. Early on, as a publicist for Houghton Mifflin Co. in New York — my hometown — I wrote copy and did media outreach to promote important books. A cross-country trip launched a long romance with San Francisco. During a formative decade at Sierra Club Books, I learned to edit from publisher Jon Beckmann and eventually became Executive Editor, overseeing adult and children’s books and the iconic calendars. I was privileged to work with authors like the poet Robert Bly, adventurer Galen Rowell, and essayist Terry Tempest Williams.

I joined Banana Republic in the heyday of its groundbreaking catalog — managing a team of writers, crafting copy, naming products. Returning to books, with designer pal Linda Herman I founded and ran Walking Stick Press, a book-packaging and communications shop in San Francisco’s North Beach. WSP created illustrated gift books for publishers like The Nature Company and Harry N. Abrams, and marketing collateral for Bay Area businesses and nonprofits.

More lately I’ve focused on freelance writing and collaborating with authors. Crafted copy for leading consumer catalogs such as Williams-Sonoma. Written, produced, and/or edited scores of books for publishers including HarperCollins, John Wiley, and Insight Editions. Teamed with nonprofits like the Shoah Foundation and the Trust for Public Land to create custom books that told their important stories — and with movie studios on “behind-the-scenes” books. Named products and developed corporate brands. Helped companies conceive and build their websites.

Images capture our gaze, but words win hearts and minds. Mated expertly, visual and verbal content reinforce each other. I love collaborating with clients (and designers) on that quest.

BEYOND work

Born NYC, educated at Long Island public schools and Skidmore College (BA English). Roamed Europe, worked in restaurants. Devoted to singing* in choirs and musical theater: a direct physical route to expression. Quieter pursuits include hiking, yoga, cooking, and boating on Cape Cod, where I live with my husband, architectural designer Greg DeLory, and Willa Catter. We travel when we can, especially to the Bay Area to spend time with family and friends. I serve on the boards of the Orleans Conservation Trust and the Sipson Island Trust and oversee their communications.