Jon Thurber is new books editor at L.A. Times

Jon Thurber had been one of the Los Angeles Times managing editors, but only for the past year or so. On the books desk he replaces David Ulin, who recently shifted to book critic. Here's the memo from Editor Russ Stanton, which appears to re-name the position from Book Editor to Book Review Editor even though there is no more Book Review to edit. (Or maybe not; Times citations of the previous title varied.)

From: Stanton, Russ
Sent: Monday, July 12, 2010 5:06 PM
To: yyeditall
Subject: Jon Thurber, Book Review Editor
Colleagues:

Jon Thurber is our new Book Review editor.

In his new post, Jon will work to continue the strong coverage directed by David Ulin, who ran the section for five years and was recently named book critic. Jon will lead a team of editors and writers who will produce a broader range of reviews, features and trend stories for the daily and Sunday Calendar sections and A1. He also will oversee the lively landing page online as well as the prize-winning Jacket Copy blog.

During the last year, Jon served as managing editor, print, where he directed the daily A1 process, oversaw the successful launch of the LATExtra section and, in recent months, has been working with me on a number of strategic initiatives tied to the future of the newsroom. Asst. Managing Editor Joe Eckdahl, who has been pinch-hitting for Jon during this stretch, will oversee the A1 operation.

Before being named managing editor last July, Jon spent 11 years as obituary editor, building our coverage into some of the best in the country. He also led by example, penning more than 400 obits during his time as editor.

Jon joined The Times as a copy boy and has worked on the copy desk and as an editor in Foreign and Calendar. As Book Review Editor, Jon will report to Alice Short, Asst. Managing Editor, Features.

Russ Stanton
Editor
Los Angeles Times

In the 2008 memo naming Short to her current job, the editor of books did not report to her.