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| Michelle Faulkner | |
Michelle Faulkner, who worked for decades at Barnes & Noble and then Quarto, died December 29. She was 55.
In the early 1980s, Faulkner began working in the downtown Barnes & Noble on Washington Street in Boston, known in the company as "Big Boston." While still in her teens, she worked as a salesclerk on the first floor, where her responsibilities included paperback fiction, magazines and the tables of remainders, "hurts" and white sale books. Faulkner continued to take on increasing responsibilities, and then, in 1992, she moved from Boston to New York to take a position in the Barnes & Noble buying office, where she bought various categories and subjects over the years. In 1999, she moved from buying trade books to buying remainder, bargain and white sale books. She then began working on co-editions and custom publishing.
In 2002, Faulkner joined Quarto as the editorial director of its book sales group. She most often worked with diet, health, and mind/ body/spirit titles but handled books on all subjects.
Friends and colleagues remember that Faulkner "worked hard at all things. This included making sure fun was had and everyone was welcome. She always went out of her way to welcome any new staff. Thanks to Michelle, classic events like Bowling Night, the annual Bowling awards lunch, Thanksgiving Pot Luck and a June Gay Pride feast occurred. After a trip to Ireland, she learned Gaelic. She played the accordion. She also never saw a can of Aqua Net that she did not know exactly how to use it all. She truly was beloved by so many, an enormous sense of fun."