He died after a short battle with cancer; h e was 69. Friends and colleagues in the industry remember Ball as an incredible man and a brave publisher. Jonathan Ball, who established the publishing house carrying his name, has been labelled as an extremely brave publisher, independent thinker and straight talker. Ball, who went into publishing in 1976, died on Saturday afternoon following a short battle with cancer. He was 69. Eugene Ashton, chief executive of Jonathan Ball Publishers, confirmed to News24 that Ball died in Cape Town just after 15:00, and was surrounded by his family. Ashton said Ball had established one of the great liberal publishing houses in South Africa, which published several books challenging the current government as well as the Apartheid government.