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A scholarship or foundation to assist Australian authors is to be set up in the name of Matt Richell, the Hachette Australia c.e.o. who died in a surfing accident this month.
Richell, who died in Sydney on July 2, was also chairman of Hachette New Zealand.
Hachette Australia announced plans to honour Richell’s “fierce love of books, his openness and drive for innovation and his unique ability to turn professional relationships into lasting friendships” at a memorial on Friday (11th July), reported the Sydney Morning Herald.
At the memorial Richell’s wife Hannah talked about her husband’s love of the ocean.
''Many Fridays he'd rise in darkness, drive to Freshie and sit on his board watching the sunrise and still make it into the office on time,” she said. “You couldn't keep him from the ocean even if you tried.''
''I really do take comfort from the fact he really did go out on a high, at the peak of his career, on a beautiful sunny day doing something he absolutely loved',” she continued.
There were readings of Raymond Carver’s This Morning and from John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany at the service.
Richell, who was from the UK, worked at Bloomsbury, Pan Macmillan and John Murray before moving to Sydney with his wife and two children, aged six and three.
A gathering was also held for UK friends and colleagues to remember Richell on Friday (11th July).
In last week's issue of The Bookseller (11th July), Roland Phillips and Saul Wordsworth paid their own tribute to Richell.