Obituary - Pat Kirby Sado, Bookseller

Bookseller Pat Kirby Sado, age 56, died suddenly in New York on September 19. Sado spent most of her bookselling career as a buyer at the old Coliseum Books, at 57th and Broadway, from 1974 until 2001, when the store closed.

Sado grew up in New York's Rockland County, attended Barnard College, and began her career at BookMasters in 1969. For a brief period, between BookMasters and Coliseum, she left New York to manage the Whole Earth Bookstore in Evanston, Illinois. After Coliseum’s closing, Sado worked at the Drama Book Shop and then the Julliard Bookstore, both in Manhattan.

Jay Grace, buyer at Coliseum Books, now reopened on 42nd Street, worked with Sado for over 20 years. Grace said of Sado: "She was a wonderful woman -- respected by everyone in the business -- dedicated and passionate about books. We’ll miss her so much. She loved her job and was great at it. She understood the audiences for certain books and had an incredible knowledge of books. She knew what would sell and what she thought should sell -- she could move you to the book. Pat read all the time -- everything. She tended toward literary fiction, but she was not a snob. She could enjoy all books."

At the Julliard Bookstore, where Sado was working as the assistant manager, manager Al Miner told BTW about her brief but significant tenure there: "Pat began here in March [2003], but she was one of those people you feel like you’ve known all your life. I’ve been in the book business for 42 years, and she’s the best I’ve seen."

Sado is survived by her husband, Dan, whom she married in 1981, and daughter Nathalie, a junior at Vassar College.

A memorial service for Pat Sado will be held at a later date. Her family requests that donations be made to:

Nathalie Sado Education Fund
c/o Barbara Passy
East Hampton Business Service
20 Park Place
East Hampton, NY 11937