Kristin Keith, the Mid-Atlantic sales representative for W. W. Norton & Company, died at her home on January 4 of complications stemming from myelofibrosis. She was 45.
“Kristin’s passion for books, for Norton, and for life itself were a model for us all,” Norton Chairman W. Drake McFeely wrote in a note to staff. “Her accounts adored her. All the rest of us who knew her felt the same way.”
Keith's career began in retail at Tower Books, then moved toward sales as she became a buyer at Koen Book Distributors. She then served as a regional Publishers Group West representative, staying through the first two years of the Perseus merger. She joined Norton in 2008, and until recently served as a New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) board member. She was awarded NAIBA’s William Helmuth Award for Sales Rep of the Year in 2013.
“Kristin was a remarkable rep for Norton and an even more remarkable person,” observed NAIBA board president and Lititz, Pa.–based Aaron's Books co-owner Todd Dickinson. "She took her job as a field rep seriously, understanding what would work best for our unique small store, but she never took herself too seriously. She would laugh at the slightest thing and we loved her visits to Lititz. It’s tough to think about going another season without a visit from Kristin, or another NAIBA Conference without her.”
Keith developed myelofibrosis, a rare form of leukemia of the bone marrow, in 2015. She is survived by her wife, Catherine Hennessy, three sisters, and her parents. A memorial is planned for January 14th at St. Lukes of the Epiphany in Philadelphia.
