Mary Cowan obituary

My friend Mary Cowan, who has died aged 99, rebelled against her privileged background and in the 1930s became a communist.She was born in Edinburgh, where her father, John Jameson, was the Conservative MP for Edinburgh West. Her mother, Margaret (nee Smith), was the daughter of a master of Balliol College, Oxford. Descended from the Forster family which had owned Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland, Mary and her cousins lived in the castle during holidays.In the 1930s Mary married Anthony Cowan. After the second world war they moved to Newton, near Edinburgh, where Mary raised their four children. With little formal schooling, mainly having been tutored at home, Mary read widely and grew critical of the role of British imperialism in the Middle East and Africa, no doubt influenced by her cousins Thomas and Edward Hodgkin, authors respectively of books on Africa and Palestine.She became active in the Medical Aid Committee for Vietnam, and in her 60s went to work in Vietnam, a country she felt great sympathy for as it emerged from the war. Mary admired the resilience and fortitude of the Vietnamese people. She was much valued for her work translating Vietnamese poetry from French into English; these and some of her own poems have been published, the latter in Singing in Tune with Time: Stories and Poems about Ageing (1993) and in the Scottish magazine Cencrastus.A keen reader of the Morning Star, Mary supported progressive, anti-imperialist change everywhere – in Cuba,... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Mary Cowan obituary'


Fostering Good Citizenship: Q & A with Mary Keeling

PW spoke with the incoming AASL president about her vision for her term, which will begin when ALA Annual comes to a close. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-06-07 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #pw spoke #ala annual


Obituary: Kenneth Seeman Giniger

Author, editor, and publisher Kenneth Seeman Giniger died on April 26. He was 100. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-05-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Obituary: Charles Rue Woods

Charles Rue Woods, art director at Grove Atlantic for nearly 20 years, died May 15. He was 69. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-05-21 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #art director #grove atlantic


Obituary: Danielle Cumbo

Publishing industry veteran Danielle Cumbo, who most recently served as director, international sales at Simon & Schuster, passed away after a long illness on April 16. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #recently served #international sales #simon schuster #long illness


Obituary: Warren Adler

Warren Adler, a novelist best known for his 1981 bestseller 'The War of Roses,' died at age 91 in New York City on Monday. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Obituary: Marjorie Weinman Sharmat

Author Marjorie Weinman Sharmat, creator of more than 130 books for children and young adults, and known for her beloved series about boy detective Nate the Great, died on March 12; she was 90. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #young adults #beloved series


Obituary: Bob Schmid

Bob Schmid, a longtime Simon & Schuster sales representative, died last month in Baltimore. He was 74. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Obituary: John Hamilton

Longtime Penguin art director John Hamilton passed away in February, at the age of 55. Eight colleagues and collaborators share their memories of him. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Obituary: John Vincent Neal Dies at 77

John “Jack” Vincent Neal, cofounder of Neal-Schuman Publishers and the Neal-Schuman Foundation died on February 20. He was 77. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Obituary: Paul B. Janeczko

Paul B. Janeczko, longtime teacher and lauded poet and anthologist best known for his poetry anthologies for children, died February 19 following an illness. He was 73. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Obituary: Raincoast's Allan MacDougall Dies at 71

Allan MacDougall, cofounder and former CEO of Canada's largest book distributor and wholesaler, Raincoast Books, has died. He was 71. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Obituary: Tomi Ungerer

Internationally renowned French author-illustrator and prolific artist Tomi Ungerer, who created books in French, English, and German, and was known for his playful humor as well as sharp satire, died in west Cork, Ireland on February 8; he was 87. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #tomi ungerer


Obituary: Diana Athill

Diana Athill’s publishers and agent pay tribute to the renowned memoirist and editor.   Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #diana athill


Obituary: Laurie Brown, 69

Laurie Brown, who worked in various sales and marketing positions for a number of major publishers in a 40-year career, died January 31 after a battle with cancer. She was 69. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #major publishers


Diana Athill obituary

Remarkable editor at André Deutsch who later in life found success as a frank and clear-sighted memoiristDiana Athill, who has died aged 101, was one of book publishing’s most remarkable editors, but in the latter part of her life it was her own writing that brought her much-enjoyed literary... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book publishing #long career #jean rhys #diana athill


Obituary: Gail Browning

Gail Browning, former Random House v-p and divisional sales director, died January 19 at the age of 80. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Mary Oliver looked 'past reason, past the provable'

The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and essayist wrote lyrically about nature, but there's more to her work than meets the eye.  Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-01-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Obituary: Claudio López de Lamadrid

Miguel Aguilar remembers Claudio López de Lamadrid—"He radiated confidence. When you were with him you felt that things could only turn out well." Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Jane Havell obituary

Jane Havell, who has died aged 65 of pancreatic cancer, was my business partner in the independent publishing house Maia Press.We planned the launch of the company over a kitchen table with a large glass of wine in 2002 and over the next six years, before it was bought by Arcadia, we published... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-12-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #pancreatic cancer #business partner #kitchen table