Seymour Lawrence; Published 4 Nobel Laureates

Seymour Lawrence, 67, a book publisher whose clients included Katherine Anne Porter, William Saroyan, Kurt Vonnegut, Frank Conroy and Thomas Berger. In 1969, after Vonnegut’s publisher had rejected a manuscript, the writer contracted with Lawrence to publish “Slaughterhouse Five.” Over the years, Lawrence’s clients came to include four Nobel laureates: Miguel Angel Asturias, Camilo Jose Cela, Pablo Neruda and George Seferis. For many years Lawrence remained one of the few independent publishers, but mergers and other economic factors forced him to join Dell in 1983. Most recently he had been with Houghton Mifflin. In Englewood, Fla., of a heart attack.