Former publishing executive Dick McCullough, 67, died last week following a battle with brain tumors. Mike Shatzkin has posted a testimonial to “the best leader I ever met in the corporate world.” He notes: “Dick was not an unconventional person, but he loved eccentricity in other people. He wasn’t a brilliant thinker, but he gravitated to people who were. He learned from everybody. He respected everybody. He was relentlessly fair….He inspired us all to be better people. He inspired us all to have a generous spirit. He valued hard work, but he also valued a good time. I have never had a real job or a real boss, but I think most of the people who worked for Dick will tell you they never had a better boss. I never had a more enjoyable client relationship. What a fabulous person he was.”
Imprints
Arsenal Pulp Press has paired author, comedian, and playwright Charles Demers as curator and editor for a new comedy book imprint: Robin’s Egg Books, launching in October with Evany Rosen’s comic essays, What I Think Happened: An Underresearched History of the Western World.
Bookselling
Black Bird Bookstore has opened in the Outer Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco. Owner Kathryn Grantham described the store as a “community bookstore for all” focus that will include “both local and global authors,” highlighting diverse voices and women of color.
The University of Connectitut plans a $3 million renovation of the bookstore at its main campus in Storrs. With students increasingly buying books online, general manager Len Oser said the goal of the renovation will be to create a “gathering place for students, faculty, alumni, and visitors.”
Digital
Following the absorption of the IDPF into WC3, the parent organization has launched a standards-track Publishing Working Group and is inviting participation, as well as submissions for a conference in November. The publishing group’s mission is “to provide the necessary technologies on the Open Web Platform to make the combination of traditional publishing and the web complete in terms of accessibility, usability, portability, distribution, archiving, offline access, and reliable cross referencing.”