children's & YA recommendations on the go
Sonia Benster is to move from selling new books to selling antiquarian, collectible books in partnership with her husband Barry.
This is an excellent profile of her:
Huddersfield’s best-known bookseller, Sonia Benster, has stepped down from the children’s bookshop she founded 40 years ago, but has no plans to retire. At 77-years-young she is embarking on a new literary adventure
Sabrina Izzard, owner of Halls antiquarian bookshop in Tunbridge Wells, is retiring after over 30 years as proprietor, having succeeded Elizabeth Batemena in 1983. The new owner is Adrian Harrington, who is currently carrying out refurbishment work on the shop.
“SOMETIMES I hear people saying they’d like to open a bookshop when they retire,” said Sabrina Izzard.
“But that idea’s a complete non-starter – it’s far too energetic for that.”
Looking back on more than 30 years as proprietor of Hall’s Bookshop in Chapel Place, Tunbridge Wells, she said: “I’ve crawled through rafters where the dust was an inch thick, climbed up wobbly steps into attics to lug down box after box of books, and been into cottages where the lights were so dim you could hardly see.”
A much-loved bookshop owner, who had shops in the borough [of Richmond] for most of his life, has died.
John Prescott, who opened the Richmond Bookshop in June 1975, was a lover of books, art and music.
He died aged 88 on April 25 at St George’s Hospital after a fall on Easter Monday.
The book-lover opened up shop in Paradise Road, until he moved his business to the parade next to the police station in Red Lion Street.
via Bookshop owner dies, after decades delighting Richmond’s avid readers (From Your Local Guardian).
