This morning, I received the sad news that Alexander Taylor, cofounder of Curbstone Press, passed away last night, Thursday, December 20th.

I met Sandy while I was working for Cinco Puntos Press. Like anybody who met Sandy, I took to him instantly. I liked his jokes, his irreverence, his story-telling, his commitment to literature, his love of life.  If you had taken my Cerling grandfather and turned him into a liberal who wasn’t particularly religious (if at all), you would have gotten Sandy: a storyteller, a man who liked to snicker, a man who was always ready to laugh, a man with hundreds and thousands of friends. And let’s admit it–Sandy had great taste.  As a result, Curbstone books are some of the best books being published today. He was a true friend to literature, all kinds of literature from around the world. In the last few years, Sandy was personally very kind to me. He frequently gave me generous amounts of his time whenever I had questions about how to run a small, independent press.  Always accessible, always working, always joking.

He will be sorely missed from coast to coast and around the world.

Hi, everybody, I probably won’t post for a couple of weeks since I’m leaving for El Paso tomorrow and then going to Seattle and Vancouver for a much needed vacation. Wow, did I actually say the words? I’ve travelled a lot in recent years but I’m not sure when my last “vacation” was–probably Europe a few years back.  So merry Christmas all and a happy New Year!

For all you folks who don’t know, today is La Dia de Virgen de Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico. Happy Virgin Day!

Great little story about this picture here from blogger Rob.