Pantheon Publisher Janice Goldklang Latest Victim of Layoffs at Random House Inc.

Janice Goldklang, the head of Knopf's Pantheon Books imprint, has been let go after more than 25 years with the company amid the ongoing restructuring of Random House Inc.

Dan Frank, who oversees Pantheon's editorial department, referred all questions to Knopf's executive director of publicity, Paul Bogaards, who confirmed the fact of Ms. Goldklang's departure but declined to comment further.

Kimberly Burns, a freelance publicist who used to work for Ms. Goldklang at Pantheon, said she "felt a little sick" when she heard the news at last night's Granta party at SoHo House. 

"I've worked for a lot of publishers, and Janice was one of the best," Ms. Burns said. "She has impeccable taste, and this is another cultural hit."

Founded in 1942 by German émigrés and sold to Knopf in 1961, Pantheon was known during its early years as a bold and visionary destination for European books in translation such as Michael Foucault's Madness and Civilization, Marguerite Duras' The Lover and Nobel Prize-winner Günter Grass's The Tin Drum, and in more recent years has distinguished itself as the publisher of classic graphic novels by Art Spiegelman, Chris Ware, Marjane Satrapi, Daniel Clowes and others.

More layoffs at Random House are expected to be announced during the next three weeks as each of the company's three divisions--Crown, Knopf, and the flagship Random House Publishing Group--adjust to the changes enacted last month by CEO Markus Dohle.

Andre Schiffrin, who spent almost 30 years as the head of Pantheon before being ousted in 1990 for refusing to take cost-cutting measures, did not respond immediately to a request for comment. For a full history of Pantheon, see chapters one and two of Mr. Schiffrin's 2000 book The Business of Books: How the International Conglomerates Took Over Publishing and Changed the Way We Read.