{"id":3190,"date":"2021-11-20T01:56:13","date_gmt":"2021-11-20T01:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ismardavidarchive.org\/indexofnames\/?p=3190"},"modified":"2021-11-20T15:33:42","modified_gmt":"2021-11-20T15:33:42","slug":"about-pat-and-henry-thoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ismardavidarchive.org\/indexofnames\/about-pat-and-henry-thoma\/","title":{"rendered":"About Pat and Henry Thoma"},"content":{"rendered":"

Patricia Cahir Thoma, c.1930\u20132009, art director at Houghton Mifflin & Company.
\nHenry Francis Thoma, c.1909\u20131983, Harvard professor and editor at Houghton Mifflin & Company.<\/em><\/p>\n

Scituate-born<\/span> Patricia Cahir worked at Houghton Mifflin<\/a> for 44 years, starting as a secretary, holding \u201ctop design posts in the educational division\u201d and retiring in 1996 as a company vice president. She was highly regarded by her colleagues, who acknowledged her as an innovative and demanding boss, and as a mentor as well. She was one of the first two women to be inducted into Boston\u2019s Society of Printers and served as its president.1<\/a><\/sup>Nicas, Jack, ,em. Patricia Thoma, 79, top executive, mentor at Houghton Mifflin, The Boston Globe<\/em>, July 8, 2009, p. B14. <\/span> In 1976, the Bookbuilders of Boston awarded her its highest honor, the W.A. Dwiggins Award, as someone who \u201chas given \u2018something extra\u2019 to her job \u2026 in terms of talent, brilliance, integrity, devotion, or helpfulness to others.\u201d2<\/a><\/sup>Description of the Dwiggins Award from Bookbuilders of Boston<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

In 1957 Cahir married Henry Thoma, who had joined Houghton Mifflin in 1946 as an editor and served as chief of its college textbook division from 1963 until he retired in 1974. He was known as an \u201ceditor\u2019s editor who set standards of excellence that his successors are constantly challenged to emulate.\u201d3<\/a><\/sup>Harold T. Miller quoted in the Boston Globe, July 20, 1983<\/span><\/p>\n

Ismar David worked with Patricia Cahir and Henry Thoma, beginning in 1957. Their first project was A Survey of European Civilization<\/em><\/a>. They worked closely, planning which historical motifs to use for the thirteen chapter openings for the book and consulting on technical details. Mrs. Thoma counted herself \u201cpractically breathless in anticipation of receiving your sketches soon. I know they will be such a tremendous addition to the book.\u201d4<\/a><\/sup>Letter from Patricia Thoma to Ismar David, August 8, 1957. Ismar David papers, box 3, folder 65, Cary Graphic Arts Collection, RIT. <\/span> Two months later she would write, \u201cYour finishes arrived last week and we are as pleased as we expected to be with them. In fact they will be transmitted to the printer as is and those suggestions in typography you sent will be incorporated with the text. It is certainly a pleasure to receive an assignment prepared with the thoroughness that this one was.\u201d5<\/a><\/sup>Letter from Patricia Thoma to Ismar David, October 2, 1957. Ismar David papers, box 3, folder 65, Cary Graphic Arts Collection, RIT. <\/span> For his part, David wrote, \u201cI should like to say here that I have found all of your suggestions extremely helpful and feel that they have improved the pages.\u201d6<\/a><\/sup>Letter from Ismar David to Patricia Cahir Thoma, September 27, 1957. Ismar David papers, box 3, folder 65, Cary Graphic Arts Collection, RIT. <\/span><\/p>\n