Odisha CM’s Brother-In-Law Sonny Mehta Passes Away

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday expressed profound grief over the death of his brother-in-law and eminent editor, Sonny Mehta.

Mehta passed away on Monday at the age of 76. He was the husband of Naveen’s sister, Gita Mehta (nee Patnaik).

“I am deeply grieved by the passing away of my brother-in-law Sonny Mehta. He was one of the world’s best editors and an extremely civilized person. May his soul rest in peace,” the CM said in a Twitter post.

Mehta was the editor-in-chief of Alfred A. Knopf and the chairman of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. His wife, Gita Mehta, is herself an acclaimed documentary film-maker and writer.

Born in 1943, Mehta studied at Sanawar School, India, and Sevenoaks School, UK, where he won an open scholarship to Cambridge University. He went on to acquire two degrees in History and English Literature while also editing the magazine ‘Granta’.

Mehta has won Lifetime Achievement Awards in publishing in India, UK and USA. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Bard College and was mentioned in the Hall of Fame in Vanity Fair′s Best-Dressed Men in the World list.

He was named the 2015 Person of the Year by ‘Publishers Weekly’.