Daniel Hennessey Goodwin, 57, former head of the Smithsonian Press, died of cancer Feb. 6 at his home in Chevy Chase.
Mr. Goodwin was born in Baltimore and grew up in Cooperstown, N.Y. After graduating from Antioch College in 1970, he lived in Mexico and then pursued graduate studies in anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin, where he received a master's degree in 1977. He specialized in Middle Eastern studies.
Daniel Goodwin led the scholarly Smithsonian Press from 1994 to 1998.
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From 1979 to 1984, he was editor for the university's Center for Middle Eastern Studies, where he had editorial responsibilities for two book series published by the University of Texas Press, founded and edited the center's newsletter and was its lead program grant writer.
He moved to Washington in 1984 to become acquisitions editor for the University Press Division of the Smithsonian Press, responsible for anthropology and archaeology books.
He developed two major series: the Smithsonian Series in Ethnographic Inquiry and the Smithsonian Series in Archaeological Inquiry. The ethnographic series grew to more than 40 titles, the archaeology series to more than 20.
He became editorial director of the division in 1988 and director in 1992, a year noted for Smithsonian publications on the Columbian Quincentennial. As director of the division, he supervised a team of acquisitions editors in fine arts, natural sciences, air and space, American studies and anthropology.
From 1994 to 1996, he was acting director of the Smithsonian Press. From 1996 to 1998, he was director of the Smithsonian Press/Smithsonian Productions, a $12 million publishing and broadcast endeavor for the world's largest museum and research complex. He pioneered books on African American, Native American and Latino subjects, and, as his wife noted, was a mentor to authors from across the United States and Latin America.
Mr. Goodwin loved books, whether reading, writing, editing, publishing or mentoring writers.
According to his wife, he seemed to remember not only every one of the many books he had read but also every person he had met. He was nicknamed "Captain Chat" for his penchant for making connections with friends, neighbors, colleagues and store clerks.
He made connections as a publisher as well and was committed to a broad and diverse list of Smithsonian publications. As former colleague Amy Pastan recalled, he was excited when a Nepalese publisher bought the rights to a book he had edited on Tibetan Buddhism, the only Smithsonian book to be published in Nepal. He was delighted when the first printed samples of the book showed up in the Smithsonian offices wrapped in simple burlap.
In 2000, he became director of publications for the New York State Historical Association and the Farmers Museum in Cooperstown. He commuted to his job from Chevy Chase.
Survivors include his wife of 26 years, Andrea Meditch of Chevy Chase; a daughter, Alexandra Goodwin of Chevy Chase; and a sister.
