Rick Gekoski
Encyclopedia
Richard Abraham Gekoski (born 25 August 1944 in St. Louis, Missouri
, USA) is a writer, broadcaster, rare book dealer and a former member of the English Department at Warwick University.
, where his father, Bernard, worked as an attorney for the Rural Electrification Authority, and his mother Edith was a social worker. He has a sister, Ruth Greenberg. The family moved to Huntington, Long Island in 1954. He graduated from Huntington High School in 1962, and received his B.A. summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania
in 1966. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1965. He subsequently took a B.Phil and D.Phil in English at Oxford University, where he attended Merton College, Oxford
and won a tennis blue.
put Gekoski's book-selling activities succinctly: “Gekoski likes to be around a better class of book than the rest of us and by skill, luck and chutzpah has managed to.” He has founded two private presses, The Sixth Chamber Press and (with T.G. Rosenthal) The Bridgewater Press, which issue limited editions by well-known writers.
, and reading. Staying Up, Tolkien’s Gown, and Outside of a Dog are written in an approachable personal voice, and combine high spirits with wry honesty and modest erudition. Colm Toibin
has called their author “a master story teller,” and Tatler
described him as the Bill Bryson
of the book world.
– called “one of the gems of Radio 4” by critic Gillian Reynolds
- which he followed with two series of Lost, Stolen, or Shredded: The History of Some Missing Works of Art also for Radio 4.
judge, and a strong advocate for John Banville
’s The Sea
, which was a controversial winner. He was Chair of Judges for the 2011 Man Booker International Prize, which was awarded to Philip Roth.
He now divides his time between dealing, broadcasting, writing and lecturing. He teaches Creative Non-Fiction for the Arvon Foundation
, and sits on their Development Board. He is a Trustee and Member of the Board of English PEN.
Gekoski and his wife Belinda Kitchin, share a mews house in The Hyde Park Estate, London, a converted Wesleyan Chapel in the New Forest, and a house in the Tuki Tuki Valley, New Zealand. He has two children by a previous marriage. In 2008 Rick Gekoski became a British Citizen (as well as an American one) remarking that he now felt “equally ill at ease in both cultures.”
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, USA) is a writer, broadcaster, rare book dealer and a former member of the English Department at Warwick University.
Early life and education
Gekoski was raised in Alexandria, VirginiaAlexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
, where his father, Bernard, worked as an attorney for the Rural Electrification Authority, and his mother Edith was a social worker. He has a sister, Ruth Greenberg. The family moved to Huntington, Long Island in 1954. He graduated from Huntington High School in 1962, and received his B.A. summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
in 1966. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1965. He subsequently took a B.Phil and D.Phil in English at Oxford University, where he attended Merton College, Oxford
Merton College, Oxford
Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...
and won a tennis blue.
Academic career
In 1971 Gekoski joined the English Department at Warwick University, where he was joint convenor of the B.A. degree in Philosophy and Literature, was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1980, and served for some years as Chairman of the Faculty of Arts. He resigned from the Department in 1984 to open a business as a rare book dealer.Rare books
The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
put Gekoski's book-selling activities succinctly: “Gekoski likes to be around a better class of book than the rest of us and by skill, luck and chutzpah has managed to.” He has founded two private presses, The Sixth Chamber Press and (with T.G. Rosenthal) The Bridgewater Press, which issue limited editions by well-known writers.
Writer
Rick Gekoski has published a trilogy of books which trace three of his major enthusiasms: football, book dealingBookselling
Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers or bookmen.-Bookstores today:...
, and reading. Staying Up, Tolkien’s Gown, and Outside of a Dog are written in an approachable personal voice, and combine high spirits with wry honesty and modest erudition. Colm Toibin
Colm Tóibín
Colm Tóibín is a multi-award-winning Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, journalist, critic, and, most recently, poet.Tóibín is Leonard Milberg Lecturer in Irish Letters at Princeton University in New Jersey and succeeded Martin Amis as professor of creative writing at the...
has called their author “a master story teller,” and Tatler
Tatler
Tatler has been the name of several British journals and magazines, each of which has viewed itself as the successor of the original literary and society journal founded by Richard Steele in 1709. The current incarnation, founded in 1901, is a glossy magazine published by Condé Nast Publications...
described him as the Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson
William McGuire "Bill" Bryson, OBE, is a best-selling American author of humorous books on travel, as well as books on the English language and on science. Born an American, he was a resident of Britain for most of his adult life before moving back to the US in 1995...
of the book world.
Broadcaster
Gekoski regularly appears on radio as a guest commentator on topics relating to rare books and the book trade. He has written and produced three series of Rare Books, Rare People for BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
– called “one of the gems of Radio 4” by critic Gillian Reynolds
Gillian Reynolds
Gillian Reynolds MBE, née Morton is a British radio critic, journalist and broadcaster. The daughter of market traders in Liverpool, she was educated at St Anne's College, Oxford University....
- which he followed with two series of Lost, Stolen, or Shredded: The History of Some Missing Works of Art also for Radio 4.
Personal life
In 2005 Gekoski was a Man Booker PrizeMan Booker Prize
The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and...
judge, and a strong advocate for John Banville
John Banville
John Banville is an Irish novelist and screenwriter.Banville's breakthrough novel The Book of Evidence was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and won the Guinness Peat Aviation award. His eighteenth novel, The Sea, won the Man Booker Prize in 2005. He was awarded the Franz Kafka Prize in 2011...
’s The Sea
The Sea (novel)
- Plot summary:The story is told by Max Morden, a self-aware, retired art historian attempting to reconcile himself to the deaths of those whom he loved as a child and as an adult....
, which was a controversial winner. He was Chair of Judges for the 2011 Man Booker International Prize, which was awarded to Philip Roth.
He now divides his time between dealing, broadcasting, writing and lecturing. He teaches Creative Non-Fiction for the Arvon Foundation
Arvon Foundation
The Arvon Foundation is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom which promotes creative writing. It is based in the Free Word Centre for literature, literacy and free expression in London.-History:...
, and sits on their Development Board. He is a Trustee and Member of the Board of English PEN.
Gekoski and his wife Belinda Kitchin, share a mews house in The Hyde Park Estate, London, a converted Wesleyan Chapel in the New Forest, and a house in the Tuki Tuki Valley, New Zealand. He has two children by a previous marriage. In 2008 Rick Gekoski became a British Citizen (as well as an American one) remarking that he now felt “equally ill at ease in both cultures.”
Books
- R.A. Gekoski, Joseph Conrad, The Moral World of the Novelist Paul Elek and Barnes and Noble, 1978.
- R.A. Gekoski, William Golding: A Bibliography (with P.A. Grogan), André Deutsch, 1994.
- Rick Gekoski, Staying Up: A Fan Behind the Scenes in the Premiership Little Brown, 1998.
- Rick Gekoski, Tolkien’s Gown and Other Stories of Great Authors and *Rare Books Constable and Robinson, 2004. Published in the USA as Nabokov’s Butterfly, Carroll and Graf, 2004.
- Rick Gekoski, Outside of a Dog: A Bibliomemoir Constable and Robinson, 2009.
External links
- Gekoski.co.uk
- Rogers, Coleridge and White Literary Agents
- Constable and Robinson Publishers
- Antiquarian Booksellers Association
- A Ghost Story (www.granta.com)
- It's the critics at Sea (www.theage.com)
- At last, the best Booker book won The Times
- Catherine Keenan interviews Rick Gekoski