Len Vlahos, executive director of BISG and former ABA COO, has signed a book deal with Egmont USA for his debut novel, The Scar Boys.

Renowned children’s book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak died on Tuesday, May 8, in Danbury, Connecticut, from complications of a stroke. He was 83.

The American Booksellers Association’s 2012 Board of Directors election results are now final.

After more than 25 years at New York’s Bank Street Bookstore, Beth Puffer retired as the store’s director at the end of April. 

The American Booksellers Association announced this week that Neil Strandberg, a longtime staff member at Denver’s Tattered Cover Book Store, would be joining the association in the newly created position of Director of Member Technology, on Monday, May 7.

Economist, attorney, author, and entrepreneur Michael Shuman discusses some of the ways in which community members can shift their investments from Wall Street to Main Street and effectively revive the country’s sinking economy.

Ann Patchett, the 2012 Indies Choice Award winner for Most Engaging Author, has been named by Time magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.

Herbert Joseph Houlihan, a past president of the American Booksellers Association, died on April 11, 2012, in Lexington, Kentucky.

Award-winning, bestselling author Richard Russo will be the featured speaker at the opening plenary session at ABA’s Day of Education, on Monday, June 4, at BEA. Also participating in the hour-long, interview-style opening event will be noted broadcaster and author Lynn Sherr.

Last week, Betsy Burton, the co-owner of  The King’s English Bookshop and an ABA Board member, spoke in support of sales tax fairness at the International Council of Shopping Center’s Strategic Leadership Summit and the American Independent Business Alliance 2012 Conference.