Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Doug Marlette died yesterday in a single-car accident in Mississippi. He was 57. The Charlotte Observer reported that Marlette, a North Carolina native, was the passenger in a car that struck a tree.

An editorial cartoonist for the Tulsa World, Marlette won a Pulitzer in 1988 for his cartoons in the Observer and Atlanta Journal-Consititution. He later worked at New York Newsday and the Tallahassee Democrat. He also drew a popular, nationally syndicated comic strip, "Kudzu," and wrote two novels--The Bridge, published in 2001 and voted Best Book of the Year for Fiction by the Southeast Booksellers Association, and Magic Time.

The Observer noted that Marlette "delighted in poking 'true believers of every stripe.'"

The Journal-Constitution quoted an article Marlette wrote for the Columbia Journalism Review in 2003: "We don't need the First Amendment to allow us to run boring, inoffensive cartoons. We need constitutional protection for our right to express unpopular views. If we can't discuss the great issues of the day on the pages of our newspapers fearlessly, where can we discuss them?"

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Campaign trail meets book tour?

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Susan Yeager has been appointed associate director of mass merchandise sales for HarperCollins Children's Books. For the past 15 years, she worked for Borders Group in inventory, category management and buying/merchandising. At Harper, she will be working directly with Costco, Sam's, BJ's and the wholesalers that service them, and will also oversee the sales efforts of Tim Synek and Mikki Plaskett as the company works to expand sales in the mass merchandise channel.

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Buy a book, but plant a tree. The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported that "Eco-Libris, a business with offices in both California and Delaware, wants you to pay them $1 for every book you buy. They, in turn, will pay organizations, including a nonprofit affiliated with Stetson University in DeLand [Fla.] to plant a tree to offset the one that was cut down in the production of your book."

Eco-Libris CEO Raz Godelnik said that currently there are few "online eco-friendly alternatives" to books. "Libraries and book-swapping are excellent choices, but if you want a book--and we are not going to ask people to stop reading--you usually can't avoid buying the paper-made version at the store."

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"Many Paths Bookstore moves us beyond the light and airy New Age and into a rich and colorful Spiritual Renaissance by providing not only such an environment but through an inviting presentation of many paths toward enlightenment."

That is how Mark Jacobs describes his new, "comprehensive spiritual bookstore" in North Hollywood, Calif. Jacobs said his decision to open the bookshop was partly inspired by his admiration for Bodhi Tree Bookstore in West Hollywood, as well as the realization that the San Fernando Valley lacked a comparable destination.

Many Paths Bookstore is located at 5152A Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, Calif. 91601; 818-762-4789; manypathsbookstore.com.

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The Marketing Week note in yesterday's edition of Shelf Awareness about Borders Group distributing sample chapters of upcoming books to customers' cell phones applies to Borders stores in the U.K. only.

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The Los Angeles Times paid tribute to bookseller Andrew Dowdy, owner of Other Times Books, West Hollywood, Calif. Dowdy has decided "hang it up" after battling serious health issues.

The Times noted that "what makes the passing of Other Times noteworthy is the store and its stock--heavy on film books but with a lot of literary fiction and old New Yorker writers--which is being sold to Powell's in Portland, Ore., over the next week or so."

Dowdy himself was the "main attraction" at Other Times, however, and will be missed by colleagues and patrons alike. He said that what he will miss most is "every day, new eccentric people to talk to. People who had an interest not shared by a significant other or friends felt like they could come here and have someone to talk to. If they couldn't find anybody else, they could talk to me."

He added that he perceived a reading generation gap, which also inspired his retirement. "People under 30 do not relate to books," he said. "We're in the middle of a generational shift. It's not my world at 70. I can tell talking to them that they're every bit as intelligent as any other generation, but their focus is different. These books are invisible to them."

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In recent years, there has been much discussion about making college libraries more student-oriented with enhancements like computer stations, wi-fi, comfortable furniture and coffee shops. According to Inside Higher Education, however, "much of the buzz about library facilities at this year's annual meeting of the Society for College and University Planning, in Chicago, had a different focus: adding to library buildings facilities that are explicitly academic, but that haven't historically been seen as part of the library. Writing centers, classrooms, faculty offices and the like--these are increasingly being placed in libraries, especially those focused on undergraduates."

 

The Dewey Divas & the Dudes are a group of Canadian publishers' reps who travel to various library systems and talk about upcoming titles. According to their website, "We can speak about blockbusters, midlist favourites, books suitable for bookclubs, fiction, non-fiction, books for male readers, books for reluctant readers, YA crossover books and just darned good reads. We can also do a children's presentation." Check out their blog, too.

[Thanks to Mary Bisbee-Beek, director of trade marketing and foreign rights manager, University of Michigan Press, for pointing this one out to us.]

 

The English Center opened late last year in Salzburg, Austria, and stocks only English-language titles, "many, many" of which are from the U.S, according to Gabrielle H. Kalke Hinterbuchner, who founded and owns the store with her husband, Christian Hinterbuchner.

The 400-sq.-ft. English Center carries some adult bestsellers and classics but is, it says, the only bookstore in Austria concentrating on children's books. It has nearly 1,000 children's titles, including YA classics and contemporary works as well as school readers. The store also offers used books, English-language courses, children's English-language play groups, storytelling, book clubs and reading groups.

Gabrielle Hinterbuchner is an Australian/American who grew up in Wyoming, studied in California and lived in Alaska before working in Salzburg--where she met her husband. Her third child was born over Memorial Day weekend. (Or maybe that's her fourth, if the store is included!)

The English Center's coffee shop serves Toll-House Cookies, Rice Krispie Treats and more. Hinterbuchner cheerfully added: "The English Center is the best place in Salzburg for relaxed English conversation with good coffee and a superb choice of books for young and old. If you are ever in Salzburg, transplanted or just travelling through, stop in and say hi! We'd love to see you!"

The English Center is located at Haunspergstrasse 37a, A-5020 Salzburg, Austria; 43 662 890 995; fax 43 662 890 995 15; TheEnglishCenter.at.

 

Michael Moore's Sicko, released late last month, has generated Moore publicity as usual and been an elixir for Citizen Moore: The Life and Times of an American Iconoclast (RDR Books, $15.95, 9781571431639/1571431632), the "untold story" of the filmmaker, former Mother Jones editor and activist based on interviews with 200 people who have known him and worked with him over the years (Shelf Awareness, January 23, 2007). Author and publisher Roger Rapoport said, "Sales are great, we have a new printing and Moore has admitted that the key news break in the book--that he actually did interview Roger Smith for Roger & Me--is correct."

In the next few weeks, Rapoport will do events at bookstores and public libraries, including McNally Robinson in New York City, Longfellow Books in Portland, Me., and Horizon in Traverse City, Mich. He's also been "doing talk radio all over the country," he said.

This morning on CNN's American Morning: Kristin Gore, daughter of Al and author of Sammy's House (Hyperion, $24.95, 9781401302641/1401302645).

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This morning on Good Morning America: Joan Weiskopf, author of Pet Food Nation: The Smart, Easy, and Healthy Way to Feed Your Pet Now (Collins, $15.95, 9780061455001/0061455008). Also forecast on GMA this morning: Bill Evans, the meteorologist for WABC-TV in New York and author with Category 7 (Forge, $24.95, 9780765317353/0765317354).

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This morning's Book Report, the weekly AM radio book-related show organized by Windows a bookshop, Monroe, La., has the theme "Art Fiction" and features an interview with Susan Vreeland, author of Luncheon of the Boating Party (Viking, $25.95, 9780670038541/0670038547).

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Today on the Diane Rehm Show: Marc Freedman, author of Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life (PublicAffairs, $24.95, 9781586484835/1586484834).

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Today on NPR's Morning Edition: Frank Deford will talk about his novel, The Entitled (Sourcebooks Landmark, $24.95, 9781402208966/1402208960).

 

"How can a bookseller recommend works in translation if they are not available? How many publishing houses have editors who are fluent in another language other than English? How many are world-conscious, read a foreign newspaper a week, read works in translation, read foreign media? How many spend considerable time scouting bestseller lists abroad, or spend time making contacts with foreign literary agents, or their own editorial counterparts abroad?"

Miraida Morales, Spanish Language sales representative for Independent Publishers Group, asks great questions. She posed the previous batch to me a couple of years ago, in response to a piece I wrote for Words Without Borders. She continues to ask questions, but this week I get to turn the tables on her.

Could you could give us an overall picture of the U.S. market for Spanish books?

"In a word, growing. It's a great market to watch right now. As the Hispanic and Latino demographic in the U.S. grows, so does the spending power that this community can yield. With increasing spending power, we see increasing demand across all book categories. We also see increasing demand for books in Spanish in bookstores that have not traditionally focused primarily on Spanish books. That's perhaps the strongest indication I see of how large the boom is--the fact that Spanish speakers aren't just going to Spanish language stores to buy their media. They're starting to go to chains, local independents, online stores, and public libraries more and more."

Are there regions of the U.S. where the strength of the market might surprise a casual observer?

"It is far too simplistic to assume that the strongest market for Spanish language books would be simply in L.A. or Miami, for instance. There is a demand for Spanish books everywhere in the nation. I read recently that more and more Hispanic families and individuals move from urban centers into the suburbs every year. This is causing a more even spread of demand for Spanish language across the U.S. than previously. Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Ohio are states I wouldn't have thought were obvious before I started to work with Spanish books in the U.S., although now I consider them completely logical."

What surprises you about the Spanish book sales in the U.S.?

"What keeps surprising me is that even though Spanish continues to be a highly contested and controversial topic in many areas of the U.S., the demand for books in Spanish keeps growing. Every month I see more and more independent bookstores take a gander at selling some Spanish-language titles, and it seems to be working for most of them."

What pleases you?

"I am also pleased to see how savvy the market is getting. Not just the Spanish books market, but the general book-buying market as well. The language barrier was quite a hurdle for many book buyers, but with increased data, communication, and awareness, Spanish language books are available in virtually every bookstore in the U.S. Whether consumers are aware of this availability is another matter entirely. Some stores do a great job of letting their customers know they have Spanish titles available, and others are still working on how to best do that."

What do you see in the future?

"The market and demand for Spanish books in the U.S. will continue to grow. In the near future, I see original works in Spanish more prominently carried in bookstores across the U.S. I think we will also see more translations of Spanish works into English. Take the recent 'discovery' of Roberto Bolaño's work in the U.S., for example. I already see the U.S. English-language readership becoming much more aware of the rich cultural and literary traditions that exist not just in Spain, but in Latin America and the Caribbean as well.

"Also, as more and more bookstores feel the crunch and pressure to differentiate themselves from the competition, I believe some of them will look to expand into other categories, not least of which will be Spanish and Latino books. Before long, more and more stores will feel the need to carry a certain selection of books in Spanish (whether literature, reference, children's books, language acquisition, or self-help) in order to stay competitive in this marketplace. The growth of the Hispanic market in the U.S. is undeniable. Already marketers in the automobile, fast food, apparel, sports, and liquor industries are getting hip to this shift. Bookstores and publishers won't be far behind in catching on to the growing trend and population change."

Next time, a few booksellers will join our conversation.--Robert Gray (column archives available at Fresh Eyes Now)