People

The 30 contributors to The Cancer Monologue Project, an upcoming October publication from MacAdam/Cage, had been neither writers nor performers. They were patients. Cancer patients at varying levels of treatment, remission, or recovery, were drawn together by actors Tanya Taylor and Pamela Thompson to participate in free workshops for those who have experienced cancer, HIV, and AIDS.

The Book Industry Study Group (BISG) has announced the appointment of a new executive director. As of August 1, Jeff Abraham has replaced Frank Daly, who had served as executive director since spring 2001.

A memorial has been scheduled for Leonard Shatzkin, the pioneering book publishing executive and consultant. Shatzkin died from congestive heart failure on May 11, at the age of 82. [For more on the life of Leonard Shatzkin, click here.]

Bookselling This Week is happy to present its second "Book Sense One on One" feature in which a bookseller who has nominated a title for the Book Sense 76 interviews that title's author.

The first young adult novel by Joyce Carol Oates, Big Mouth & Ugly Girl (HarperCollins), is number one on the Book Sense 76 Teen Summer Reads list. Oates weaves controlled, elegant writing with her storytelling magic in a sweet story that includes a bit of Kafka, a little David and Lisa, and even some Nicholas Sparks.

Karl Pohrt, owner of Shaman Drum Bookshop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a member of the American Booksellers Association Board of Directors, has long been an active and vocal participant in his community. For the last nine years, he has been on the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority. For the last three years, he’s been the president of the State Street Area Association (his store is on State Street).

New York is Book Country (NYIBC) has announced that the organization's founder and president, Linda C. Exman, will be stepping down at the end of this year. The person tapped to lead the organization, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2003, is Courtney Muller. According to NYIBC, Muller will work together with Exman through the end of this year, when she will take over the organization's leadership with Exman's assistance through its anniversary.

When Jean McGean, the long-time book buyer for Sam Weller's Zion Book Store in Salt Lake City, died recently, colleagues throughout the industry mourned her passing. McGean was a favorite among publishers' representatives, including the author of this piece, Bruce Roberts, who called on her for many years representing regional book wholesalers. Roberts is currently an account manager for Books West, a regional wholesaler in Boulder, Colorado.

Two independent bookstores in the Detroit, Michigan, area were recently treated to a visit from the 2002 Newbery Medal winner, children's author Linda Sue Park. Dressed in a traditional Korean gown, Park talked about her writing, answered questions, and autographed copies of her books at Halfway Down the Stairs Children's Book Shop in Rochester, on Friday, June 28, and the next day at Book Beat in Oak Park. Park won the Newbery, which is awarded annually by the American Library Association, for her novel A Single Shard.

On June 21, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) announced the election of three new Board members. Mitchell Kaplan of Books & Books, Coral Gables, Florida; Matt Miller of The Tattered Cover, Denver; and Wendy Strothman, executive vice president of Houghton Mifflin, have joined the ABFFE Board. Each will serve a three-year term.

Linda Ramsdell, owner of the Galaxy Bookshop in Hardwick, Vermont, is hanging up her bookseller’s hat for a few days and donning both author escort and limo driver’s caps to add a new dimension to New England handselling. The author Ramsdell will escort, from June 30 to July 3, is Michael Crummey (Book Sense 76 Pick River Thieves, Houghton Mifflin), and the limo is her Subaru Impreza.

Selection Comes One Week After GMA Book Club Taps 76 Pick

New volunteer booksellers have joined in key ABA activities, on both the Booksellers Advisory Council (BAC) and the ABA Nominating Committee. The booksellers were appointed by incoming ABA President Ann Christophersen of Chicago’s Women & Children First, and the appointments were unanimously approved by the ABA Board at its recent May meeting.

The members of the 2003 Nominating Committee are: