Who

Medina is the executive editorial director and associate publisher at mega-publisher Random House.

Backstory

Medina is a Random House lifer. She started at the company right out of college, and spent more than two decades working her way up the editorial ladder. When Ann Godoff was shown the door in 2003, Medina became executive VP of the Random House imprint, then became executive editorial director in 2005, and added associate publisher to her business card in 2007. Over her career, she's edited authors including E.L. Doctorow, John Irving, and Anna Quindlen. She's also overseen the publishing careers of a number of famous, first-time authors such as Nancy Reagan, Tom Brokaw, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Jane Fonda.

Of note

In 2002, Medina paid $8 million for Charles Frazier's Thirteen Moons (the follow-up to his blockbuster Cold Mountain) based on a one-page outline. (Superagent Binky Urban brokered the deal.) The book was published in October 2006; sales were brisk but well short of what Random House had hoped for. In a major coup, Medina struck an $800,000 deal with agent Tina Bennett for the next book by acclaimed author Adrian Nicole Leblanc (Random Family). The tentatively titled Give It Up will be about the vicious, obscene, and politically incorrect comic Rick Shapiro, whom Leblanc followed around for years.

Personal

Medina's husband, Standish Forde Medina Jr., a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton, passed away in 1999. She has a grown son, Nathaniel. She lives on Park Avenue on the Upper East Side.

True story

There are some things you simply can't pack in checked luggage. While working with Nancy Reagan on the former first lady's book, I Love You, Ronnie, Medina flew cross-country with Ronald Reagan's personal correspondence to his wife on her lap.