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Who

The intensely private Mayhew is editorial director at Simon & Schuster. She's known for acquiring and editing inside-the-Beltway page-turners, notably Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's seminal Watergate investigation, All the President's Men.

Backstory

Mayhew has been editing juicy political tomes for three decades; her more recent books include Bob Woodward's Plan of Attack, David Brooks' On Paradise Drive, Ron Suskind's Price of Loyalty and Craig Unger's House of Bush, House of Saud. In late 2008, Mayhew will publish Wrestling History: The Bill Clinton Tapes by Taylor Branch, a book based on eight years of the author's recorded conversations with the former president. Up until recently Mayhew had a team of nine editors reporting to her, but in January '08 it was announced that Priscilla Painton, formerly the deputy editor of Time, would be joining Simon and Schuster as editor-in-chief and would assume those responsibilities. Mayhew will continue acquiring and editing books, reporting to publisher David Rosenthal.

For the record

When Judith Miller was serving 85 days in prison for her refusal to name sources in the Valerie Plame leak, Mayhew—who had edited Miller's two previous books—was one of her visitors, although the reported $1.2 million book deal they struck ultimately fell through. Simon and Schuster did later issue Plame's book on the affair, Fair Game—My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House, which was heavily redacted by the CIA.

Scandal

In 2002, two of Mayhew's authors, Stephen Ambrose and Doris Kearns Goodwin, were accused of plagiarism. In an ironic twist, it turned out that the book Ambrose had lifted from, Exile: The Unquiet Oblivion of Richard M. Nixon by Robert Sam Anson, was also a Mayhew acquisition.

Personal

The tiny Mayhew, who's been described as gruff, intimidating, and unpretentious, has always been protective of her personal life; she declined to be interviewed for a 2004 Times story about her, saying "I don't think that's legitimate." But we can tell you a few things: She lunches most days at Michael's, is unmarried, and lives at 30 Fifth Avenue. She also has a home in Sag Harbor.