The Old Guard Moves On

Henry Kisor, book editor of the Chicago Sun-Times and previously of the late, lamented Chicago Daily News, is retiring.

In 1973, we still lived in a world of text on paper. Book publishing was a gentleman's occupation that held intellectual integrity to be as important as the balance sheet; publishers sought to bring readers literary excellence while turning a reasonable profit.

Now most publishers have become subsidiaries of soulless corporations that wallow in downmarket pop culture for the sake of maximizing stockholder returns. Megaselling blockbusters have elbowed out much of the slower-moving literary midlist, but there are still pockets of quality, especially among independent publishers.

Update: Hedy Weiss writes a nice tribute to Kisor here.