In the coming full circle department, Stone Bridge Press founder Peter Goodman, who sold the company to Yohan, the Japanese book distributor, in 2005, has bought the company back from its current owner, IBC Publishing of Tokyo, once a division of Yohan.
Goodman, who started Stone Bridge, North Berkeley, Calif., in 1989, has remained an executive at the house, which publishes books with an Asian, mainly Japanese focus. He continues as publisher and editor-in-chief, and the house continues to be distributed by Consortium.
Goodman bought his baby back, he said in a statement, because "money that had been planned for Stone Bridge operations instead got diverted to Cody's Books," the landmark Bay Area bookstore that Yohan bought in 2006 and closed in 2008. The shift left Stone Bridge "with a shortfall just when it was expanding production to grow.
"I was concerned about the company's future," he continued. "These authors are like family; many are my friends; their books are of great value to them personally and to the people who depend on them for information and entertainment. In the end, the best strategy was for me to step in and resume ownership."
Goodman plans to expand into fiction and inspirational writing and beyond Japan and Asia. "A lot of the sensibilities and creative possibilities that drew me to Japan 30 years ago are now visible throughout world cultures," Goodman said. "It's a good time for exploring and stretching concepts of art and taste."
