Axel Rosin, former Book-of-the-Month Club president, dies

Axel Gerhardt Rosin, a former president of the Book-of-the-Month Club, died Tuesday at his home in New York City, it was reported. He was 99 years old.

Mr. Rosin served as the club's president from 1960 to 1973 and its chairman until he retired in 1979. During his tenure, membership peaked at 1.25 million and annual sales reportedly doubled to $65 million.

Harry Scherman founded the club in 1926, and it distributed more than 570 million books through the mail in the United States, according to the Encyclopedia of Company Histories.

In 1943, Mr. Rosin married Katherine Scherman, a nonfiction writer, and the daughter of Mr. Scherman.

Mr. Rosin was born in Berlin in 1907. He graduated with a law degree from Berlin University and immigrated to the United States in 1934.

The former book club president also served as chairman emeritus of the Scherman Foundation, which has awarded more than $100 million to various causes since 1940.

The cause of death has not yet been released.