I was very saddened to hear of the death of one of my old bosses yesterday. Christopher Davis was Deputy Chairman of Dorling Kindersley during my time there (1995-2001). He was a larger than life character in every sense. He was a bon vivant and raconteur of the first order and always held excellent court wherever he went, and especially at the Frankfurt Book Fair every year. He had a genuine warmth and affection, not only for book publishing but for the people who worked under him. No person was too small or unimportant not to be noticed and appreciated by Christopher. Even after both of us had long left Dorling KIndersley, we stayed in touch and he got me work, which was very much appreciated.
In 2009 he wrote an excellent book on the history of Dorling Kindersley: Eyewitness: The Rise and Fall of Dorling KIndersley, which I'd throughly recommend, even if you have an just a mere passing interest in publishing.
It's really so sad to hear one of the DK family has passed on.
Former colleague,—and my old MD at DK Multimedia—Alan Buckingham, wrote an excellent obituary for the Guardian.
Sad day for publishing and he'll be sorely missed by many in the industry.
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