Obituary Note: Ian Chapman

Ian Chapman, former Collins chairman and CEO, died November 7, the Bookseller reported. He was 94. Chapman joined William Collins following RAF service in World War II, and rose through the ranks to become managing director in 1967, deputy chairman in 1976 and chairman/CEO in 1981. Chapman resigned in 1989, setting up Chapman Publishers with his wife, Marjory. The company was later bought by Orion.

In a tribute, Curtis Brown president Jonathan Lloyd described Chapman as a mentor: "He was a chairman of Collins when they were at the top of the league and was a truly exceptional publisher and leader, and so many people--myself included--owe their careers to him. That is unusual enough but what is unique about him apart from anything else is that he worked for Collins all his life and started at the bottom in the Bible department in Glasgow. He stood out obviously." 

Lloyd added that Chapman "was an extraordinarily talented man.... He was not afraid to take tough decisions as one has to do at the top of the business.... He joins a very small club in the pantheon of 20th Century Great Men in Publishing. He was a major influence in my life and so many other people's."

Mark Lucas, chairman and co-founder of the Soho Agency, said Chapman "occupied an impossibly grand space in the international publishing firmament, and seemed to have done so since the dawn of time."

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