Interview with Lerner Publishing Group's Cully Beisell

Read an interview with Cully Beisell (pictured above with Harry Lerner), who recently celebrated her 45th anniversary at Lerner!

How did you get your first job at the company? In which departments have you worked?

Lerner was looking for their very first receptionist and the editorial director contacted a friend of his who taught business classes at my high school. Mr. Lawrence asked me if I would be interested and my answer, of course, was “Yes!” I interviewed with Harry Lerner and a couple of other people and they took me on. So, I graduated from high school on a Friday and started working on the following Monday. I worked as a receptionist and Harry’s secretary for a few years before Lloyd Schatschneider, our controller, asked if I might like to move to the business office. I was ready for a new challenge, so again I said “Yes!” When the company became more structured, I switched to customer service and now I work in accounting.

Do you have any favorite memories or stories from your 45 years at Lerner?

In the first years, I was fortunate to be able to type up the final drafts of some of the edited manuscripts that our editors were working on. That was great because I was able to read the books before they were published. I was here when Lerner moved into the computer age. Harry’s office was converted into the computer room and housed a very large computer! When Lerner expanded, I moved to the 1251 address along with the rest of the customer service, warehouse, and accounting people. I just have lots of good memories of my time here…way too many to mention them all.

Do you have a favorite Lerner book?

Festus and Mercury Wishing to Go Fishing was a favorite Carolrhoda title of mine. The artwork is so imaginative and cute. Festus, the old man, and Mercury, the cat, are endearing characters. Also, I like My Grandpa and the Sea. That book has a great story line where Grandpa finds a new line of work on the sea in St. Lucia when his fishing career fades away.