David Thompson, RIP
Terrible news this morning: David Thompson, co-owner of Murder By the Book in Houston, publisher of Busted Flush Press and husband to McKenna Jordan died last night of a heart attack.
David had been in the book biz for decades. He'd been at MBTB since 1987. He met McKenna when she started part-time at the shop in 2003. Here's a charming story about them from the Houston Chronicle. After working together for years, they bought the shop from founder Martha Farmington earlier this decade.
In 2005, David followed the lead of many other mystery booksellers and started Busted Flush Press, publishing new fiction as well as favorites he wished were not out of print. In late August it was announced that Busted Flush had been sold to another small independent mystery press, Tyrus Books. David was to continue doing what he was doing, bringing lost and recent classics back into print (such as Daniel Woodrell, Don Winslow, Reed Farrell Coleman and Zoe Sharp).
He was a cheerful man to work with. Occassionally, we'd send books to him for signature and get books signed for them. He was a tireless advocate for mystery and crime fiction. He will be missed within the mystery world. He was 38.
Our thoughts are with his widow, McKenna, family, and with his loyal customers and fans.
0 comments:
Post a Comment