A horrific boat accident in the sea of Amalfi in Italy on Thursday killed US tourist Adrienne Vaughan, the 45-year-old president of the Bloomsbury USA publishing house. Vaughan, her husband Mike White and their two children Leanna and Mason, were on a 29-foot speedboat off the Amalfi coast, south of Naples, when their vessel collided with a sailing ship; onboard there was a wedding party with about 85 German and American tourists.
The speedboat bore the brunt of the impact, and Vaughan was violently pushed overboard against the boat’s propeller. The 45-year-old suffered fatal wounds; the intervention of the emergency services and a helicopter trying to transport her to a hospital proved to be fruitless.
Her husband was hospitalized with slight injuries; the two children were uninjured.
Vaughan had become head of Bloomsbury USA, which publishes the Harry Potter books in America, in September 2021. She had worked for the editorial group at Disney between 2015 and 2018. Visiting Italy was a dream of hers; prior to the Amalfi coast, the family had spent a few days in Rome.
Italian media report that toxicology screening came up positive for the sailor driving the speedboat. The skipper at the helm of the sailing ship, the Tortuga, tested negative. The Italian authorities opened an investigation.
