Harry Hoffman, who successively built Ingram Book Company and Waldenbooks into industry powerhouses in the 1970s and '80s, died on May 20 at age 92.
In 1968, Hoffman was hired by Bronson Ingram to run the Tennessee Book Depository, the part of Ingram Industries that supplied books to libraries and schools. As federal funding for libraries and schools was being cut, Hoffman began selling to stores as Ingram Book Company, which he built into what is the largest bookstore wholesaler in the country.
After 10 years at Ingram, Hoffman became president and CEO of Waldenbooks, which operated bookstores in malls. In his 13 years as head of Walden, he increased the number of its stores to almost 1,300 from 500 and quadrupled sales. After his departure, Walden was eventually merged into and rebranded as Borders stores.
Hoffman was well-known for his charisma, strong opinions on how books should be published and marketed--and for living half the year on a sailboat in Long Island Sound, near Walden headquarters in Stamford, Conn.
Hoffman had an unusual life before joining the book world. He was a paratrooper with the 11th Airborne Division and an FBI agent, and then worked at Procter & Gamble, Bell & Howell and Demco, a library and school supply company, before joining Ingram.
In lieu of flowers, his family requests donations be sent to Room to Read, 465 California St., Suite 1000, San Francisco, Calif. 94104.