Portia Clark, who worked on early Fred Rogers show at WQED, dies at 91

Portia Clark, a longtime personality in New York City publishing circles who began her career in public broadcasting, died Jan. 1, according to Publishers Weekly. She was 91.

She started her professional life at WQED in Pittsburgh in the early days of public television. One of the shows she worked on was The Children’s Corner, where Fred Rogers developed puppets that turned into characters in Mister Rogers Neighborhood. [Editor's Note: The Publishers Weekly obituary originally identified that program as The Children's Hour.] She also produced TV shows at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism’s Office of Radio and Television.

Clark went on to positions at at Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and Oxford University Press, where "she helped define the field of book promotion to libraries," PW said. She traveled the country, known for her "razor-sharp wit, smoky laugh, and her shock of coiffed white hair."

A memorial service is planned for Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., in the spring. The family suggests donations to Doctors Without Borders.