The Rev. Harold W. "Hal" Rast, former head of Fortress Press and retired pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) died Oct. 13 after a long battle with cancer. A memorial service for Rast, 71, was held Oct. 18 in Lancaster, Pa.

Rast became head of Fortress Press, Philadelphia, in 1981 through the Board of Publication of the Lutheran Church in America. While there he directed a program of publishing works in theology and biblical studies. Rast became the founding publisher of Trinity Press International in Valley Forge, Pa., in 1989, and later served as publisher at Judson Press, the publishing arm of American Baptist Churches, in Valley Forge, Pa.

He returned full-time to head the Fortress Press book program in 2000 as interim vice president for academic and professional publishing while the company searched for a replacement. Today Fortress Press is a division of Augsburg Fortress, the publishing house of the ELCA.

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