Paul Westlake obituary

My friend Paul Westlake, who has died of cancer aged 65, was a pillar of the radical publishing world from the mid-1970s onwards. He was an advocate of workers' co-operatives and gained much experience in ensuring that the output of independent publishers reached the bookshops.In autumn 1976, after months of planning, we became co-founders, with three others, of a distributor for small radical and feminist publishers, including periodicals. Paul, who had a few years' experience in managing a bookshop, took on the key role of handling the finances, which was a big challenge, particularly for someone without an accounting background.At the beginning, Paul organised the building of an office and warehouse in Clerkenwell Workshops, central London, putting up the internal walls block by block. The Workshops were also home to the magazines Spare Rib and Undercurrents.In 1979 Paul co-founded Zed Books, where he met his partner, Anne. He took on a role in finance and rights administration and in 1983 persuaded the company and its owners to convert to a workers' co-operative. He supported the Industrial Common Ownership Movement for nearly a decade. Always ready to help out in the running of the organisation, he personally introduced the staff to spreadsheets. He also played a leading role in Hackney Co-operative Developments and chaired its trust, which today has a solid property base in Dalston.Paul spent more than 20 years fostering southern African publishing. He founded the... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2013-11-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Robin Hyman obituary

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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March Religion Bestsellers: Bill O’Reilly Breaks Top Four; Wm. Paul Young Dominates

The paperback release of 2013’s ‘Killing Jesus’ lands Bill O’Reilly at #4 on PW’s Religion Nonfiction Bestsellers list. Plus, Wm. Paul Young takes three spots in Fiction. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-04-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Obituary: George Braziller Dies at 101

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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Letter: Ruth Levitt obituary

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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Obituary: Amy Krouse Rosenthal

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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Cover Story: The Night Ocean by Paul La Farge

Designer Will Staehle's book jacket taps into what the 'hypnotic sensibilities' of the novel, a story of obsession and H.P. Lovecraft. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Obituary: Dick Bruna

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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Obituary: Robin Hyman

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 ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #robin hyman #publishers association #great deal #laurence king


Obituary: David Miller

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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Wm. Paul Young’s ‘The Shack’ Heads to the Big Screen: A First Look

Go behind the scenes with Young and check out photos from the highly-anticipated film adaptation of ‘The Shack,’ which opens in theaters nationwide on March 3. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-01-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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My Job in 5: Paul Stark

Paul Stark from Orion Publishing Group talks about his role as audio and digital manager. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Obituary: Sally Whitaker

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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Obituary: George Turianski

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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Obituary: Yumi Heo

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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Obituary: Karsten Dietrich, Longtime Book Club Runner

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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Graham Greene obituary

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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Obituary: Natalie Babbitt

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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Gillon Aitken obituary

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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Paul Beatty: First American author to win Man Booker Prize

Paul Beatty's book 'Sellout' tells the story of an African-American who attempts to bring back segregation and slavery. The novel had previously won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2016-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Obituary: Darlene Delillo

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 ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #simon schusters