Poet whose outlook spanned anarchism, ecology and small business, as founder of the City Lights Bookstore in San FranciscoLawrence Ferlinghetti, poet, artist, activist and founder of San Francisco’s famous City Lights Bookstore, who has died aged 101 of interstitial lung disease, was the least “beat” of the Beat Generation. In addition to a political commitment that blended anarchism and ecology – he loathed the motor car, calling it “the infernal combustion engine” – he had an instinctive business sense, founded on the philosophy of small is beautiful. City Lights, which he started in partnership with the magazine editor Peter Martin in the early 1950s, is still among the most welcoming of shops, with its tables and chairs, sheaves of magazines, and signs saying: “Pick a book, sit down, and read.”Ferlinghetti discouraged interviewers and seekers of personal information. “If I had some biographical questionnaire to answer, I would always make something up,” he once said. Different reference books give different dates of birth, and one published story had it that he wrote his doctoral dissertation on the place of the pissoir in French literature. For many years, he listed his dog, Homer, as City Lights’ publicity and public relations officer. The poet recalled that Homer Ferlinghetti received regular mail, but that his public relations career stalled when he peed against a policeman’s leg. For this act of citizenship, he was immortalised by his master in the poem Dog.... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2021-02-23 22:42:13 UTC ]
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Award-winning author, poet, and playwright Joyce Carol Thomas, whose works largely focused on family and the African-American experience, died on August 17. She was 79. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Randall, who retired from Ten Speed in 2009 after 19 years with the company, died on August 12. She was 61. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hugo, founder of four Massachusetts bookstores under the HugoBooks umbrella, died on July 27 of heart complications. He was 72. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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James L. Mairs, an editor at W. W. Norton & Company since August 1963, died of heart failure on July 26. He was 77. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Smith, the former president and CEO of John Wiley and Sons, died on July 10 following a long illness. He was 61. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-07-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A publisher of both prestige and pessimism, Peter Owen’s skill was in resuscitating neglected writers, says poet Jeremy Reed. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-07-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Faber & Faber’s editorial director for film, Walter Donoghue, recalls memories of the man who led Faber through a literary purple patch. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-07-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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I first met Peter Owen in the late 1980s, when he published some short stories that I had written about Saudi Arabia. I was invited to interesting parties at his house in Holland Park, west London, and at various embassies where he would launch the many translations of literary fiction he... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Editor who began her career with André Deutsch, shaping its children’s list with child-centred booksPam Royds, who has died aged 91, was a children’s book editor with an instinctive understanding of literary talent, a clear-sighted view of what children as readers really enjoy, a deep commitment... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Alan Rutsky, CFO of Rizzoli International Publications, died on June 28. He was 67. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bookseller who transformed the perception of sports writing and set up the William Hill Sports Book awardJohn Gaustad, who has died aged 68, was a quietly spoken New Zealander who revolutionised the British sports books industry. In 1985 he opened Sportspages, a small shop in Caxton Walk, off... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-06-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Illustrator, printer, and publisher Michael McCurdy died on May 28 in Springfield, Mass. He was 74. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-06-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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From our archives, our obituary of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. co-founder and longtime president Blanche Wolf Knopf, who died on June 4, 1966. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lois Duncan, author of more than 50 books for children and teens including 'Killing Mr. Griffin' and 'I Know What You Did Last Summer,' died on June 15. She was 82. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hughes, a longtime Macmillan executive and, most recently, the publisher's v-p of distribution, sales and special markets, died on June 12. She was 60. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Award-winning children's author Rhoda Blumberg, who translated her passion for history into more than 25 nonfiction books, died at home on June 6. She was 98. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-06-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Joseph "Scott" Harvey, a veteran publishing executive who most recently served as v-p of custom product development at HarperCollins Christian Publishing, died on Friday. He was 52. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ann B. LaFarge, a former editor for Dutton, Ballantine, Zebra, and Kensington, died at home on May 27. She was 83. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publisher whose list of writers included 10 Nobel prizewinnersPeter Owen’s survival as a publisher across 60 years was against all commercial odds. In 1993 he described himself as “one of the few remaining independent publishers specialising in translation”, and at his death aged 89 his mission... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-06-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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