Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer, 90, died at home in Johannesburg. Gordimer won the Booker in 1974 and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize in 2002, along with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991.
Jamil Ahmad, 83, author of THE WANDERING FALCON, died at his home in Islamabad after a long illness. Ahmad’s debut novel was published in 2011 when he was 79 after being excerpted in the “Pakistan” issue of Granta.
At St Martin’s, Nancy Trypuc has been promoted to vp, creative services.
Jerry Bilek will join the Minnesota Historical Society Press as sales manager on August 1. Bilek is the owner of Monkey See, Monkey Read, an independent bookstore in Northfield, MN, which he opened in 2006.
Michael O. Campbell will join Canada’s Lone Pine Publishing as US sales manager, replacing Helen Ibach, who is retiring at the end of July after 18 years in the position. Campbell most recently was marketing and sales manager at the University of Nevada Press.
Grove Atlantic plans to publish Colin Barrett‘s YOUNG SKINS, winner of last week’s Frank O’Connor Short Story award, in March 2015 through their Black Cat imprint.
The ITW presented their Thriller Awards over the weekend. Among the winners was Rebecca Cantrell’s self-published THE WORLD BENEATH, named the best e-book original. Honorees included:
Best Hardcover Novel: THE DEMONOLOGIST, Andrew Pyper
Best First Novel: RED SPARROW, Jason Matthews
Best YA Novel: ALL OUR YESTERDAYS, Cristin Terrill
Longtime book editor Jerry Gross died in Santa Monica, CA on July 6. Among his many publications in a 60-year career, Gross compiled PUBLISHERS ON PUBLISHING and EDITORS ON EDITING, which is still in print.
He held editorial positions at houses includes New American Library; Warner Books; Dodd, Mead; Everest House; and Paperback Library — and he created the Gothic romance and Regency romance as paperback categories, as well as the first TV/movie paperback tie-in. In 1996 he co-founded the Independent Editors Group.
A memorial service to celebrate his life will be planned for later this year. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to:
Croton Free Library
171 Cleveland Drive
Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10598
or The New York Public Library.
Though Book Culture owner Chris Doeblin made peace with the union and his employees recently, he tells the NYT he wasn’t happy about it, and did so because of pressure from his customers. “I think I’m probably not a very good manager,” Doeblin said, “reflecting on a style that one employee described as brusque and intimidating. ‘I think I have a lot to improve on. I need the support of the staff and the support of our community to survive.'”