Home 5 News 5 Len Riggio, Bookstore Pioneer, Dies at 83

Len Riggio, Bookstore Pioneer, Dies at 83

by | Aug 29, 2024 | News

Tributes have been paid across the industry to Len Riggio, the former chair of Barnes & Noble, who has died at the age of 83 after a long battle with Alzheimers.  Nihar Malaviya, CEO of Penguin Random House worldwide, said: “In mourning the passing of Len Riggio, we also celebrate the life of a book-loving visionary who transformed the way America reads.

 

“By establishing Barnes & Noble bookstores everywhere across our country—many in locations that never before had a retailer completely devoted to books—he made books accessible and affordable to millions of readers. Len was a giant, commercially and culturally. It’s a privilege to benefit from all he contributed to our world. Our thoughts are with his wife Louise and his family.”

 

Credited with democratizing chain bookstores, making them unstuffy, he told The New York Times in 2016.  “Our bookstores were designed to be welcoming as opposed to intimidating.  These weren’t elitist places. You could go in, get a cup of coffee, sit down and read a book for as long as you like, use the restroom. These were innovations that we had that no one thought was possible.”

 

He was a colourful figure whose father was a cab driver and prize fighter who beat Rocky Graziano twice, and he was often described by the media as “feisty” or “gutsy.”  A New Yorker through and through he told Business Week: “My nationality is New York City.  I don’t mean I’m a New Yorker like the New York Times is a New Yorker. I mean it in the Horatio Alger sense”, a reference to the 19th century American novelist who wrote novels about impoverished  youngsters who rise above their humble beginnings.

 

Riggio sold the chain in 2019 to the investment company Elliott Advisers who installed Waterstones’ James Daunt as CEO.  Riffio

stepped down from B&N in 2016, remaining upbeat about the company in whose expansion he had played such a key role.

 

 

 

Recent News

15Jul
Al Faya: Where History Took Its First Steps on the Sands of the Desert

Al Faya: Where History Took Its First Steps on the Sands of the Desert

In a timeless moment etched into the memory of human heritage, the sun of Sharjah rose once again on the map of the world, this time through the gateway of deep history. At its recently concluded 47th session in Paris, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee officially inscribed the “Cultural Landscape of Prehistoric Faya” on the […]

15Jul
Tatsunoko Enters Publishing with TEEM BOOK

Tatsunoko Enters Publishing with TEEM BOOK

Tatsunoko Production, the legendary Japanese animation studio, has officially launched a new publishing imprint called TEEM BOOK, built on the pillars of universality, contemporaneity, and originality.   Founded in 1962, Tatsunoko is known worldwide for its iconic anime series such as Mach GoGoGo (Speed Racer), Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, and the Time Bokan series. With […]

15Jul
Leila Aboulela awarded PEN Pinter prize for her work on migration

Leila Aboulela awarded PEN Pinter prize for her work on migration

Leila Aboulela has won this year’s PEN Pinter prize for her writing on migration, faith and the lives of women. The prize is awarded to a writer who, in the words of the late British playwright Harold Pinter, casts an “unflinching, unswerving” gaze on the world, and shows a “fierce intellectual determination … to define […]

Related Posts

Tatsunoko Enters Publishing with TEEM BOOK

Tatsunoko Enters Publishing with TEEM BOOK

Tatsunoko Production, the legendary Japanese animation studio, has officially launched a new publishing imprint called TEEM BOOK, built on the pillars of universality, contemporaneity, and originality.   Founded in 1962, Tatsunoko is known worldwide for its iconic...

Leila Aboulela awarded PEN Pinter prize for her work on migration

Leila Aboulela awarded PEN Pinter prize for her work on migration

Leila Aboulela has won this year’s PEN Pinter prize for her writing on migration, faith and the lives of women. The prize is awarded to a writer who, in the words of the late British playwright Harold Pinter, casts an “unflinching, unswerving” gaze on the world, and...

Buenos Aires Publishers’ Fair in Focus

Buenos Aires Publishers’ Fair in Focus

Buenos Aires is gearing up to host the 2025 edition of the Publishers’ Fair (FED), bringing together over 330 publishing houses from Latin America and Spain. Set to run from August 7 to 10 at the C Complejo Art Media center.   Since its launch in 2013, the fair has...

Previous Next
Close
Test Caption
Test Description goes like this