She was one of the magazine’s original staffers when it was launched in 1974
Mary Dunn, a photo editor and founding staff member of PEOPLE who helped start the magazine’s famous Sexiest Man Alive franchise, died on July 5 at the age of 76.
The news was first reported by the Camden, South Carolina newspaper Chronicle-Independent,
Dunn was a PEOPLE photo editor when the magazine launched its first ever issue on March 4, 1974.
“Her role as picture editor for the magazine was crucial to its success,” according to the Chronicle-Independent obituary. “With her colleagues in the photo department,