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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Peter Chippindale obituary

Former Guardian journalist and co-author of a savagely funny book about the Sun newspaper, Stick It Up Your Punter!Pugnacious and anarchic, the former Guardian journalist Peter Chippindale, who has died aged 69 of kidney failure, assured his reputation with one savagely funny book Stick It Up... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-08-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Obituary: Editor Stanley Hochman, 89

Stanley Hochman, editor of reference, and a translator of European literature and nonfiction, died at home of natural causes on August 10. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Obituary: L.A. Meyer

L.A. (Louis) Meyer, creator of the swashbuckling Bloody Jack adventure series starring intrepid Mary "Jacky" Farber, died on July 29 in Ellsworth, Maine, of complications from Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was 71. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Obituary: Publishing Exec Malcolm Magruder, 89

Malcolm Magruder was William Morrow and Company's director of sales for nearly 10 years and the Southeastern rep for 12 years until his retirement in 1990. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Obituary: Editor Jerry Gross, 81

Jerry Gross, co-founder of the Independent Editors Group, died in Santa Monica, Calif. on July 6. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Obituary: Helen Ditlow

Helen Ditlow, who with her husband Anthony launched Listening Library in 1955, died June 26 at age 92. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Obituary: Walter Dean Myers

Walter Dean Myers, the award-winning children’s author best known for his many novels that portray the often difficult life experiences of young African-Americans, died on July 1 following a brief illness. He was 76. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Paul Pope Revisits 'Escapo,' this Time in Full Color

Cartoonist Paul Pope is dipping back into his archives to reissue his 1999 work 'Escapo' in a new hardcover edition from Z2 Comics that will be in full color for the first time and offer a wealth of supplementary material. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Obituary: Penguin's Maureen Donnelly, 59

Longtime Penguin publicity director Maureen Donnelly passed away on June 30, after a brief battle with breast cancer. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As Amazon slugs it out with the big publishers, authors are left cowering | Adam Fletcher & Paul Hawkins

And whoever comes out on top, you can bet the poor old writer won't be any better offA few weeks ago, we published a book called Denglisch for Better Knowers, a (hopefully) humorous book about how the English language could be improved by taking new words and concepts from German. Like "ear... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Felix Dennis obituary

One of three editors in the 1971 Oz obscenity trial who went on to become a hugely successful magazine and book publisherFelix Dennis cackling laugh, roistering humour, ribald in appetite, loyal and immensely generous has died aged 67 from cancer. One of the richest men in Britain, he made his... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #richest men #magazine publishing #business opportunity #crack cocaine #rock star


Obituary: Alan Mirken

Alan Mirken, who arranged the sale of the Crown Publishing Group to Random House in 1988 when he served as president of the company, died June 12 from heart problems. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Obituary: Helene Green

Helene Green, v-p, business information and data operations at Simon & Schuster, died June 10 after a long illness. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Obituary: Frances Foster

Frances Foster, editor of numerous award-winning authors and illustrators, died on Sunday, June 8. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Obituary: Publisher Colin Jones, 76

Scholarly and academic publisher Colin Jones passed away on March 1, after a bout with Alzheimer's Disease. He was 76. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Joan Bunting obituary

My friend and colleague Joan Bunting, who has died aged 88, was in charge of overseas sales at Cambridge University Press (CUP) for many years. A woman of pioneering spirit and great business acumen, she was instrumental in opening up the Japanese market and in setting up CUP's Australian... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2014: Paul O. Zelinsky: More Moose Shenanigans

In Moose’s debut outing, Z Is for Moose, written by Kelly Bingham and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky, the impatient title character is not pleased when his friend Zebra selects Mouse—rather than the obvious (to him) choice of Moose—to represent the letter “M” in the alphabet. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2014: Pamela Paul Does Her Own ‘By the Book’

Every Sunday in the New York Times Book Review, Pamela Paul does a q&a interview with an author in the popular “By the Book” feature. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Obituary: Publisher Oscar Dystel, 101

Oscar Dystel, an early pioneer of mass market paperbacks and one-time CEO of Bantam Books, passed away at the age of 101. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #oscar dystel #bantam books