Charles Mitchell, who worked for Half Price Books and Texas Bookman, died on November 21. He was 74. Born in Fort Worth, Tex., he earned a theater degree at Southern Methodist University and taught briefly at Greenhill School before living in New York City for a year.
He returned to Dallas in 1972, and began his career in the book trade with Half Price Books, which had opened its first bookstore the same year on its way to becoming a chain that now operates 120 stores in 19 states. Mitchell rose though the company's ranks in the roles of buyer and Texas Bookman Warehouse director.
After retiring early, he pursued a life of reading, writing, and curating art. He wrote for Glasstire, Art in America, the Dallas Observer, and the Dallas News. He was the author of several art exhibition catalogs, and curated exhibits at the Reading Room and the McKinney Avenue Contemporary. Mitchell was also active in Dallas Video Fest, Wordspace, ArtsEye, Houston Fotofest, and Art+Seek on KERA.
In a tribute to Mitchell published in the Dallas Morning News, Benjamin Lima wrote that "the Dallas art world has lost one of its leading lights who helped shape the local artistic culture as a critic, curator, collector, patron, and general all-around wise man of the arts....
"Unlike many who write about art, though, the breadth and depth of Mitchell's literary and cultural knowledge set his work apart. A glimpse at the index of his archive at the Dallas Museum of Art, or even his eccentric blog, suggests the range of his thinking. Later he exercised this range as president of the literary and poetry organization Word-space from 2010 to 2018, which was credited with helping nurture a 'literary renaissance' in Dallas."