The beautiful, brilliant, boisterous, kind, generous, optimistic, unconventional and wholly original Mike Shatkzin, 77, died on the morning of November 7 at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, following the recent onset of a rare cancer. In his final days, Mike was lifted by an outpouring of love and appreciation, as his ICU room overflowed with visitors from near and far and his email and texts flooded with messages. Even as his body struggled, Mike’s resting face in his hospital bed was often a smile.
Mike was indelible. If you were fortunate enough to spend time with him, his voice and vantage point will stay with you, and people across the industry will be telling Shatzkin stories for a long time. His friendships and network were vast and loyal, and he leaves behind a web of connections across a caring Community of Mike.
He loved life, and in particular publishing and its operational intricacies, baseball, book fairs, ebooks, giving speeches, marijuana and Diet Coke among other things, not to mention his wide circles of friends, but he adored his wife Martha Moran and their many relatives. His big heart had endless capacity, and his curiosity was unbounded.
The details of his lifelong career in publishing belie his impact. A consultant, entrepreneur, blogger, author, digital change advocate, climate activist and atheist mensch, Mike provided valued counsel, analysis and perspective to countless people and companies — whether you were a client or not.
He was unafraid of being bold in his predictions and proclamations — of which he made many — and although he had firm convictions he did not cling to them tightly. Mike was always open to being persuaded by contrary arguments. While he had solutions and answers for almost anything, perhaps more significantly he asked great questions that always made you think more deeply.
While he never had to have the last word, he certainly enjoyed having the definitive word. So we’ll leave you with this quintessential Mike, which he wrote in 2019 upon being presented with the BISG’s Lifetime Service Award:
“So I’ve had the opportunity to work with legions of smart people who are interested in new ideas and help them figure out how to develop and apply them. And I got paid for it. Whatever gratitude the industry is expressing to me through this recognition is reciprocated ten times over for the opportunity to have lived and worked in the book publishing world and to have so many friendships with the people in it.”