(IDEX Online) - Hedda Schupak, award-winning editor-in-chief at the JCK magazine for nine years, has died aged 62 after battling lung cancer.She was "a legendary figure in the jewelry trade," said current JCK editor-in-chief, Victoria Gomelsky.Schupak was appointed JCK's fashion editor in 1991 and became editor of its Luxury and Trendz magazines in 1997 after the walkout of colleagues who went on to found the rival Professional Jeweler.She took over as editor-in-chief of the entire JCK Group from 2000."JCK for many years was like a second family to me," she said in a 2019 interview marking JCK magazine's 150th anniversary.She left JCK after 23 years in 2009 to edit The Centurion online newsletter for elite jewelers.Schupak's impact in the jewelry industry was "monumental on both a professional and personal level," said Anthony DeMarco, who worked closely with her, in a tribute.Howard Hauben, publisher and CEO of Centurion, said: "She was a fantastic person and a pleasure to work with and a very good person. I for one will miss her a lot and she will be dearly missed by many in our industry."We extend our condolences to her husband Jim Baum, her family and one and all in the jewelry industry family who knew and loved her as we did."Schupak semi-retired in 2022. She died on Tuesday (3 October).