Dan Cullen, who worked at the American Booksellers Association for 35 years before retiring in January 2022, died October 4 following a long illness. He was 69.

Cullen worked as an associate editor at Pantheon Books for five years before joining the ABA in October 1986 as editor of ABA Newswire, the organization’s weekly newsletter. In 1989 he was named editor of American Bookseller magazine, ABA’s monthly print publication. Ten years later he took on more strategic positions, rising to senior strategy officer by the time he retired.

“Dan was a valued colleague and good friend,” said Oren Teicher, former CEO of ABA. “The list of his contributions to ABA—and, more broadly to indie bookselling—is very, very long. No one worked harder or more effectively than Dan. We spent countless hours together over more than 30 years and his advice and counsel was always spot on. He was one very special person.”

There is no one who worked or met with Cullen who would dispute Teicher's characterization that he was a special person. As word of Cullen's passing began to circulate Sunday, people talked not only about his commitment to bookselling but also his kind, yet persuasive, nature.

“He was an enormously revered ambassador for the ABA for so many productive years,” said Stuart Applebaum, former emeritus EVP of corporate communications at Penguin Random House. “During his time he helped define the organization publicly and was the truest of book professionals.”

Cullen’s knowledge of and dedication to independent booksellers was captured in an interview he did with the ABA this spring as part of the organization’s 125th anniversary celebration. When asked by Bookselling This Week what he saw as some of the most important developments that occurred during his years with the ABA, he pointed to do the development of IndieBound, the launch of an e-book platform, the fight with Amazon and other e-tailers over sales tax fairness, and the creation of Winter Institute and Children’s Institute.

In a statement, the ABA said the team was saddened to hear of Cullen's passing, adding that "we celebrate his life and long-time commitment to independent bookselling." The statement continued. "He was a soft-spoken, quiet force with a deep passion for the first amendment and for the success of independent bookstores. Many of us at ABA remember him as a light that guided and illuminated. He will be greatly missed."

Cullen was always interested in politics and became more involved with the Democratic party in his retirement. Asked by BTW about his hopes for the future, he said: “I'm not in a particularly happy place right now politically. So to see what independent bookstores are doing—sometimes in the face of vile threats, the ugliest insinuations, smashed windows, graffiti, and in-store aggression—is beyond heartening. It's a commitment to the Constitution, to human rights, to the written word, and to language."

He continued: "My hope is that booksellers will not just continue this fight politically, but do what they've always done, which is continually reinvent themselves. That's really one of the superpowers of bookselling.”

Cullen is survived by his wife, Mary Chris, and two daughters. Funeral plans were pending as of Monday morning.

This story has been updated.