Bestselling author of the 1960 novel The L-Shaped Room and the children’s classic The Indian in the CupboardLynne Reid Banks, who has died aged 94, hit a jackpot with her first book, The L-Shaped Room (1960), the story of an unmarried middle-class girl, Jane Graham, who takes a dingy room in London to hide her unwanted pregnancy. The novel was a cracking read that caught the cusp of a momentous change in social attitudes. Its profile rose even higher when it became a film in 1962, with Leslie Caron playing its heroine. It sold in its millions and never went out of print.This success was both a blessing and curse for Reid Banks. In the decades that followed, she published nine further novels (two of them sequels to The L-Shaped Room), two award-winning volumes of biographical fiction on the lives of the Brontës, two books about Israel and numerous books for younger readers. But nothing she wrote ever matched the acclaim for The L-Shaped Room. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2024-04-05 15:33:59 UTC ]
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Author of the 1970s cult bestseller Zen and the Art of Motorcycle MaintenanceWhen, in 1968, Robert Pirsig, who has died aged 88, sent a synopsis and sample of his novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance to 122 publishers, only one showed any interest, and James Landis, the editor who... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Our friend Ariadne van de Ven, who has died aged 56 of cancer, was a book publicist and photographer of street life in Kolkata, which she wrote about in original ways.Ariadne was born in Heerlen, in the Netherlands, the daughter of Jep, a solicitor, and Rose Marie (nee Van Grunsven). At the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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My father, Robin Hyman, who has died aged 85, was one of the leading independent book publishers of the 20th century. But he was so much more than that: family man, Jew, author, theatregoer, book-collector, sports fan, lover of all things Pepys and political junkie. He packed things in,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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George Braziller, a legendary independent publisher who began his career in the 1930s before going on to publish such international literary stars as Jean-Paul Sartre and Andre Malraux, died in Manhattan March 16. He was 101. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-03-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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I worked with Ruth Levitt as publisher of the Macmillan Dictionary of Art, a 32-volume scholarly reference work. Over a decade, Ruth and her colleague Gillian Northcott indexed 31 volumes, some 16m words of text and many thousands of images. Their index formed the 32nd volume of the dictionary.... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amy Krouse Rosenthal, author of children's books and a number of memoirs and guided journals for adults, died of ovarian cancer at age 51. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dutch children’s author-illustrator Dick Bruna, widely known for his iconic bunny character Miffy, died on February 16 at age 89. In all he created 124 books for children. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Robin Hyman, the former president of the Publishers Association, whose love of dictionaries and aptitude in the independent publishing world granted him a great deal of respect within the trade, is remembered by Laurence King. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ravi Mirchandani remembers literary agent David Miller of Rogers, Coleridge & White, who died in December aged 50. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The tale of a hubristic Georgian book editor is an early example of trolling, and a lesson for us allThe case of the 18th-century man of letters John Hawkesworth is not often invoked, perhaps because no one has heard of him. Books of notable Georgians in England go straight from Hawke to Haydon.... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Caldecott-winning children’s author-illustrator Paul Goble, widely known for his picture books inspired by Native American culture and lore, died on January 5 at age 83. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sally Whitaker, one of the key figures behind the inception of Nielsen Bookscan is remembered, with her time as m.d. of J Whitaker & Son notable for its many groundbreaking advances. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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George Turianski, a senior production manager at Simon & Schuster, died suddenly on November 17. He was 53. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children's author and illustrator Yumi Heo, creator of more than 30 distinctive books praised for their varying visual perspectives and stylized, often whimsical imagery, has died after a long battle with cancer. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Karsten Dietrich, who ran the France Loisirs book club from 1973 until his retirement in 2009, died last week in Paris. He was 72. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Astute publisher and British Museum chair behind fundraising for the Great CourtGraham Greene, who has died aged 80, was one of the leading publishers of his generation, as well as giving huge public service in an impressive range of activities, usually unpaid. As managing director of Jonathan... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author and artist Natalie Babbitt, whose 1975 novel 'Tuck Everlasting' remains a lauded work of the modern children's literature canon, died of lung cancer on October 31. She was 84. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Leading British literary agent whose clients included Germaine Greer, Helen Fielding, AN Wilson and Salman RushdieGillon Aitken, who has died aged 78, founded the literary agency Gillon Aitken in 1976 and chaired it, through a number of name changes, until his death, by which time it had become... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Darlene Delillo, global program manager at Simon & Schusters' Atria Books imprint, died October 25. She was 65. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The U.K. Blake Friedmann agency has announced that Carole Blake, co-founder of the agency with her former husband Julian Friedmann, has died. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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