Fred Ruffner, 88, founder of Gale Research in 1956, died August 12 after a long illness. The company published more than 2,000 reference titles before he sold the company in 1985 and founded Omnigraphics, a publisher of reference books and materials for schools and libraries. Ruffner was one of Friends of Libraries USA's first presidents, and he was recognized with ALA's honorary membership in 1987 for his library advocacy work. He also participated in the Florida Governor's and the White House Conferences on Libraries, and founded Florida's Key West Literary Seminars.