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Jenny Bell, who died on 4th August, was one of The Bookseller’s own. She joined J Whitaker & Sons in 1980 as assistant to chairman David Whitaker, and a year later moved downstairs in Dyott Street to The Bookseller - her previous job, at Hudsons Railway Bookshop, made her a natural to take over the journal’s reporting on bookselling.
Jenny was fortunate, as were we all at that time, to be in place as publishing and bookselling built up to a period of intense activity. Between 1983 and 1990, the six major bookshop chains opened 600,000 square feet of new shops. Important new players - Waterstone’s and Dillons - emerged alongside W H Smith and Blackwell’s, and smaller chains - Hammicks, Books Etc, Phoenix, Ottakar’s - alongside Heffers, James Thin and John Smith. Jenny penetratingly tracked their fortunes and vicissitudes. She earned the respect of the bookselling community, and grew to know as much about some of these businesses as did their owners.
Nicholas Clee, former editor of The Bookseller, has described Jenny as “forensic” in her application. This was certainly true. She would inspect an issue from every angle before taking a position, from the appropriateness of a bookselling merger or the suitability of an appointee to the positioning of a new branch. “She had excellent judgment without being judgmental,” as David Whitaker observes.
In the mid ’90s she took over as features editor, a role that played to her strengths. She was a natural editor. She was meticulous. She would not be hurried. She was kind but firm. She carefully briefed staff writers and contributors, and would then carefully edit the result. Regular contributor Caroline Sanderson says Jenny is “the reason that I still write for The Bookseller today: it was her early encouragement and acute mentoring which really got me writing properly in the first place”.
Jenny had a wonderfully dry sense of humour and a sense of fun. An annual report on the academic sector was always delivered on time, well written and to brief, but Jenny felt it lacked humour. She asked the contributor to provide three jokes per submission. From then on the article arrived every year with an anxious note from its author: “Have you spotted them?”
Jenny was a woman of integrity and determination, and she would argue patiently for what she felt was right. If the tide went against her, she would keep her own counsel but nevertheless help to put the decision into effect. Her sense of justice, loyalty and discretion were great virtues in a small team.
In 2004 Jenny left The Bookseller to help grow her husband’s innovation consultancy business Ideas First. As lead editor, she used her talents to help large consumer goods companies to develop and test ideas for new products and services. In addition, she used her considerable project management skills to help to rebuild their home in Wargrave, and to bring up their dog Tess and their two adopted boys.
Her determination was never greater than in the face of three cancer diagnoses in 15 years. She beat the first two, but there was to be no return from the third.
Jenny was a wise, serene and loyal friend and colleague, lovely inside and out.