The speedboat collision occurred near Naples while Adrienne was enjoying a family holiday with her husband, Mike, and their two children, Leanna (14) and Mason (11), reported Mirror.

On August 3, the family chartered a boat for a leisurely cruise along the Amalfi Coast. However, their boat collided with another carrying 85 people who were celebrating a wedding. Adrienne was thrown into the water and struck by the boat’s propellers. Emergency services including a helicopter and ambulances rushed to the scene near to Fiordo di Furore. Despite their best efforts, Adrienne could not be saved. 

Vaughan’s husband, Mike White, was hospitalized with a shoulder injury while the couple’s two young children were uninjured, according to the reports.

The Amalfi Port Authority has launched an investigation to ascertain the cause of the collision. Adrienne, a talented and influential figure in the publishing industry, assumed the role of Bloomsbury US president in 2021, overseeing the American branch of the British publishing house responsible for the Harry Potter books.

Her colleagues fondly remembered her as a “charismatic true leader” always ready to lend a helping hand to others. “She was my coach and my mentor. I loved working with her every day. It was always ready to help others,” a former colleague wrote on LinkedIn, reported Mirror.

Merely days before the incident, the family had explored Rome and took pictures outside Trevi Fountain and Colosseum. 

Speaking of her professional career, Vaughan had a master’s degree in business from New York University, had also worked at the Disney Book Group and Oxford University Press among other companies before joining Bloomsbury in 2020 as executive editor and COO. 

She was promoted to president a year later and also served on the board of the industry trade group the Association of American Publishers.

(With inputs from Associated Press) 

Updated: 05 Aug 2023, 02:08 PM IST