Scottish bookseller and civic activist Robert Clow, who for 25 years "was the driving force behind the John Smith and Son bookshop chain, giving him a reputation in publishing for innovation and energy," died July 18, the Times reported. He was 88. Clow "became renowned in the 1970s not just for bookselling, but for standing up to the local council fad for knocking down old buildings of rich cultural heritage in Glasgow. In part, his success meant that Glasgow today boasts some neoclassical buildings that would otherwise have been razed."
Clow was born in Northern China to Scottish Baptist medical missionaries, though "from the age of five, he went six years without seeing or hearing from either of his parents," the Times wrote. "Clow spent the first four years of his life in Xi'an while his parents worked at a Baptist Missionary Society hospital. In 1938 he was taken 300 miles to live with an aunt in Taiyuan. In 1939 the outbreak of war meant he would not see his parents for another six years. In 1942 he found himself being stowed in the hold of a cargo ship with no lavatories for four days while being moved to the Japanese-run Weihsien concentration camp.... American troops eventually rescued Robert and other children. He was transported to Hong Kong on a U.S. navy ship, and finally back to Southampton. Wearing a tag that said 'R Clow, Hong Kong,' he saw his father on the dockside waiting."
His parents returned to China and sent Clow to boarding school, where another key moment in his life occurred: Jack Knox, managing director of John Smith and Son of Glasgow, along with his two sisters, became Clow's guardians. Knox "spotted in Robert his curiosity and determination--born of years of sheer survival--and encouraged Clow to follow him into the book trade on leaving school. By the early 1970s he had risen to become John Smith's managing director himself, boldly steering the company on many new ventures," the Times noted.
John Smith's became Scotland's largest bookshop, and Clow pushed through the remodeling of existing shops as well as expansion into new university bookshops. Under his leadership, many distinguished authors, celebrities and politicians came to John Smith's for book signings, including every U.K. prime minister from Edward Heath to Gordon Brown.
One young worker recalled Clow's routine in John Smith's dispatch department--effectively the factory floor--in Glasgow: "Here he was, the top guy in the company, and me and these other wee toe-tags were down there packaging up books and doing manual labor. He would come round at 11 a.m. with a notepad, ask us all what we took in our tea and coffee, and disappear off to make our 'elevenses', reappearing ten minutes later with a tray, cups and biscuits. And he didn't do this for show. It was just him."