Former American Booksellers Association president and associate executive director, Robert David Hale died on October 21; he was 85. “Robert Hale had a long and distinguished life in bookselling, both here at ABA and in his own store, and he will be missed by many in the industry,” said ABA CEO Oren Teicher. “He was a bookman of the highest order.”
Hale began his bookselling career at Westwinds Bookshop in Duxbury, Mass. He then started a bookstore at Connecticut College and served as general manager of Hathaway House Bookshop, part of Wellesley College in Wellesley, Mass., before joining the ABA. Among his responsibilities, he headed the ABA Booksellers Schools and edited the fourth edition of ABA’s A Manual on Bookselling. Hale also worked with then Librarian of Congress Daniel Boorstin to establish the Center for the Book.
A celebration of Hale’s life will be held on Saturday, November 9, at 2:00 p.m., at the First Parish Church in Duxbury, Mass. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Massachusetts Audubon Society, Fund for Nature.
Click here to see a bookseller's tribute to Hale.
