David St John Thomas
David St John Thomas (30 August 1929 – 19 August 2014) was an English publisher and writer who founded David & Charles.[1]
Early life and career
[edit]The son of writer Gilbert Thomas (1891–1978)[2] he shared his father's enthusiasm for railways,[3] particularly in the running of their Bassett-Lowke model railway.[4]
Brought up in Devon over the World War II period, his first job was as a reporter on the Western Morning News in Plymouth where he specialised in covering transport and holiday stories.[5] He later became a freelancer, combining journalism and radio and television reporting with fruit farming and being commissioned by the Dartington Hall Trust and others to produce reports on rural transport.[6] His first book (for young people) was published in 1959[7] and in 1960 he produced the first book in the series he was to edit (and later publish), A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, The West Country.[8]
Foundation of David and Charles
[edit]On 1 April 1960 he founded, with canal writer Charles Hadfield, the non-fiction publishing house of David & Charles of which he became chairman. This was run from his house at Ipplepen before moving to its better-known address at Newton Abbot railway station.[9] With a staff of up to 300 the firm ran Britain's second-largest book club group, Readers' Union, which had a score of specialised clubs totalling about 250,000 members.
In later years, he also published some books under his own imprint. He continued to write himself, including a series of well-illustrated books on railway topics with Patrick B. Whitehouse and others,[10] and more books on travel-related topics.[11] He was keen to encourage new writers, and to this end launched the magazine Writers’ News in 1989, since sold.[12]
The David St John Thomas Charitable Trust
[edit]Having sold David & Charles, to F+W Media in 2000, and moved to Nairn, Scotland, he set up the David St John Thomas Charitable Trust. It makes awards to writers and also to gap year students.
Death
[edit]Thomas died in his sleep on 19 August 2014 at the age of 84 while on a cruise in the Baltic.[12]
References
[edit]- ^ "Publishing legend David St John Thomas dies, aged 84". torquayheraldexpress.co.uk. 11 September 2014. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
- ^ Thomas, Gilbert (1932). The Master-Light — letters to David. London: Allen & Unwin.
- ^ Thomas, Gilbert; Thomas, David St John (1963). Double Headed — two generations of railway enthusiasm. Dawlish: David & Charles.
- ^ Thomas, Gilbert (1947). Paddington to Seagood — the story of a model railway. London: Chapman & Hall.
- ^ Gill, Crispin (1981). "From gangling youth to tycoon". Good Books Come from Devon — the David & Charles twenty-first birthday book. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. pp. 8, 32. ISBN 0-7153-8139-3.
- ^ E.g., Thomas, David St John (1963). The Rural Transport Problem. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
- ^ Thomas, David St John (1959). Trains Work Like This. London: Phoenix House.
- ^ Thomas, David St John (1960). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, Vol. 1, The West Country. London: Phoenix House.
- ^ Thomas, David St John (1981). "Why we're here". Good Books Come from Devon — the David & Charles twenty-first birthday book. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. pp. 1, 12–13. ISBN 0-7153-8139-3.
- ^ e.g.Thomas, David St John (1984). Whitehouse, Patrick (ed.). The Great Western Railway — 150 glorious years. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-8530-5.
- ^ e.g.Thomas, David St John (1990). The Cunard Book of Cruising. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-9074-0.
- ^ a b "David St John Thomas – publisher par excellence". The Railway Magazine. 160 (1, 364). Mortons Media Group Ltd. November 2014. ISSN 0033-8923.
Further reading
[edit]Thomas, David St John (2004). Journey Through Britain — landscape, people and books. London: Frances Lincoln Publishers. ISBN 0-7112-2369-6., and Thomas, David St John (2010). Remote Britain — landscape, people and books. London: Frances Lincoln. ISBN 978-0-7112-3054-5.
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