Manuel Pérez, former editorial director of CNN Digital, dies at 57

(CNN) – Manuel Pérez, former editorial director of CNN Digital, died this Monday at the age of 57.

In his later years, Pérez had found a new hobby after moving to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia. He became an amateur landscaper, planting Japanese maples and other perennials in his garden while creating a lunar garden where pale-hued flowers reflect moonlight.

It was a dramatic change from the hectic pace of Pérez’s newsroom career as a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former editor-in-chief of CNN Digital. But the slower rhythms of planting, pruning, and watching things bloom seemed to calm and delight him.

“Those were extraordinary gardens that he built in the last three to five years,” said Mitch Gelman, a former CNN senior vice president and executive producer who worked with Pérez for much of his career. “Everything he touched flourished in that environment.”

Pérez, who died at 57 this Monday after a four-month battle with cancer, had the same impact on the people he worked with at CNN. He had an uncanny ability to cultivate the talents of colleagues who flourished under his leadership in ways they never expected.

“Working for Manuel meant looking forward to work every day. He was demanding, no doubt, and he held the bar very high because he was an ambitious, talented and thoughtful journalist,” said Jan Winburn, a former CNN senior editor.

“But he also understood what it was to be human, to make mistakes, not meet deadlines, not meet. So while he taught me to be a better journalist, with his example I also saw what it meant to be a caring and compassionate person.” .

John Blake and Brandon Griggs contributed to this report.