One of the first women to write about wine, she was known for her prickly putdowns and forthright views about food and drinkPamela Vandyke Price, who has died aged 90, was the first woman in Britain to write seriously about wine and spirits. Writing about drinking – its tastes, smells, intoxication, history and innumerable scraps of lore and myth – had been the preserve of a variety of old buffers, long on purple prose, short on precision. Vandyke Price arrived on the scene just as mass wine consumption began in Britain. People had a taste for drink and needed fast, often peremptory, instruction. She provided it. She became a wine correspondent of the Times newspaper, closely followed by many readers, and wrote books on the subject.She was born Pamela Walford in Coventry, daughter of a clockmaker and his wife, a part-French woman with a firm vision of her middle-class station. Pamela was privately educated and went on to study English at Somerville College, Oxford, being taught by both CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien.Her life was peppered by a long list of dislikes and prohibitions: no perfume or talking in the tasting-room, no bought sandwiches, and above all, no bad manners. When she was making plans for her own funeral, there was a list of people not to be invited.Her mother encouraged her to think of the stage as a career and she trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama, London, in the postwar years. She never actually trod the boards, though the apprenticeship bore... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Three of the five book publishers sued Wednesday by the Department of Justice quickly agree to scrap their deal with Apple and claim no wrong-doing. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2012-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Morning Business Memo: Amazon is the big winner in the government’s decision to go after Apple and major publishers over alleged ebook price fixing. Amazon might decide to slash the price of many bestsellers from $14.99 to $9.99. The Justice Department and 15 states sued... Continue reading at ABC News
[ ABC News | 2012-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple and publishers Penguin and Macmillan have decided to fight US government charges that they conspired to fix the prices of ebooks, even as three other publishers agreed to a settlement aimed at lowering prices for consumers. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2012-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple's Steve Jobs played a key role in a price-fixing plan with five ebook publishers, federal and state officials say in antitrust lawsuits.WASHINGTON — Former Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs was a key player in a conspiracy with five major book publishers to drive up the price of... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Attorneys General in 16 states filed suit against Apple and three publishing companies Wednesday, following a similar suit filed this morning by the US Justice Department. Unlike the federal suit, the states action also looks for monetary compensation in addition to the end of the collusive... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2012-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The U.S. filed an antitrust lawsuit Wednesday against Apple Inc. and five of the nation's largest publishers, alleging they conspired to limit competition for the pricing of ebooks. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2012-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The U.S. Department of Justice has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple and five book publishers for alleged ebook price fixing the Wall Street Journal... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2012-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department on Wednesday sued Apple Inc. and five major book publishers for allegedly colluding to fix ebook prices. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Justice Department has formally decided to sue Apple, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillian, Penguin and Simon & Schuster over alleged ebook price-rigging. Apple and Macmillian have already denied any wrongdoing, saying that the agreements were enhancing competition in an industry... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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WASHINGTON -- Former Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs and top executives at five major book publishers illegally conspired to raise the prices of ebooks, costing consumers tens of millions of dollars, federal and state officials alleged in antitrust suits filed Wednesday. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In December 2010 I asked: "Is someone fixing ebook prices?" Google's digital bookstore opened for business, and I started comparing prices only to find them fairly consistent across all retailers. I expected to see huge variances, not pricing consistency, which shouldn't be in a competitive... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2012-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Department of Justice is accusing the companies of colluding to raise ebook prices by using the 'agency' model of ebook pricing. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2012-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The US accuses Apple and Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simon and Schuster and Penguin of colluding over the prices of ebooks they sell. This lawsuit is over the firms' move to the agency model where publishers rather than sellers set price ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-book price fixing will cost consumers more than US$200 million this year, and U.S. antitrust authorities should take action against Apple and a group of... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2012-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Talks to resolve U.S. and European price-fixing probes into ebooks are heating up, with three international publishers inclined to settle the matter, according to people familiar with the matter. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2012-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The European and US investigation into ebook pricing may be approaching resolution, say US press... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones launched a new Buy One Get One Half Price (BOGOHP) promotional offer on selected... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers need to emerge from the shadow of Nielsen BookScan and use their own judgement while... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors Guild President Scott Turow charges in an open letter about ebook pricing: “Our government may be on the verge of killing real competition in order to save the appearance of competition.” Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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European Union antitrust chief Joaquin Almunia says that the Competition Commission is open to a settlement with publishers in the increasingly high-profile ebook price fixing case, but only if the companies address key regulatory issues. Almunia says regulators are coordinating with the Justice... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2012-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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