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| Lee Soper | |
Lee Soper, manager of the University Book Store, Seattle, Wash., from 1977 to 1993, died yesterday, on the eve of his 92nd birthday, after a brief illness.
Shelf Awareness's Marilyn Dahl, who worked at University Book Store during Soper's tenure, said that "Mr. Books" was "one of the greatest of the greats in bookselling. He was my first book boss, my mentor, father figure, and dear, dear friend. I learned a lot about books, about taste, and about life from him. Raise a glass to him tonight."
Soper began his book career at the Walla Walla Bookshop, where he worked from 1952-1958. His first term at University Book Store ran from 1959-1969, then he established the Raymar Northwest Book Company before returning to University Book Store as manager in 1977.
Soper was a founder of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association in 1960, a member of the board of the American Booksellers Association, a judge and advisor for the Governor's Writers Awards, on the advisory board of the University of Washington Press and a founding member of the Willard Espy Literary Foundation, now called the Espy Foundation.
Information about a memorial service will come soon.
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Intizar Hussain, a novelist, columnist and story writer who received numerous awards from the governments of Pakistan, India and UAE, died February 2. He was 92. The Daily Times reported that Hussain "developed a unique prose style and is known for his nostalgia for older places and phenomena." The Express Tribune noted that in 2013, Hussain became "the first Pakistani and the first Urdu writer ever to be nominated" for the Man Booker International Prize.