The C.L.R. James Institute presents: The Bill French Center

The C.L.R. James Institute
in conjunction with The Autodidact Project
presents

The Bill French Center

This is the beginning of an ongoing effort to document the life and times of the late Bill French (18 February 1943 - 14 January 1997), proprietor of the University Place Bookshop in New York City, a business he inherited from Walter Goldwater, who himself died in 1985. I have begun to gather documentation (see the references below), and I have contributed my own personal memorial tribute to get the ball rolling.

Now I am asking you to contribute your own personal memoirs of your experiences with Bill French and the University Place Bookshop, as well as any other documentation you might have to supplement our bibliography. In this manner, we can accumulate a huge amount of information for the historical record. Please send your contributions to me, and thanks for your support.

Ralph Dumain, Librarian

UPDATES

As a result of this tribute, I was contacted by Bill's sister. (See Bettina French's memoir, below.) Indeed, Bill is remembered, and there is a whole network of people who will get involved in the further documentation and celebration of Bill's life. I am always making new contacts as a result of web searches. Much more material will be added to The Bill French Center, and additional activities may be organized by the Institute, so please do check back from time to time. (10 Oct. 2001, 2 Nov. 2001, 21 Dec. 2001)

Please note that The Autodidact Project has a new home and a new URL. The links on this page have been updated accordingly. Check here periodically for new references. (17 March 2002)

REFERENCES

Blockson, Charles L. "Damn Rare": The Memoirs of an African-American Bibliophile. Tracy, CA: Quantum Leap Publisher, Inc., 1998.

Crossey, Moore. Moore Crossey on Walter Goldwater, Bill French, & Onitsha Market Literature, 16 December 2002.

Day, Wyatt Houston. "Henry Louis Gates Takes Some More Heat", The Black World Today, 12-15-99.

Dumain, Ralph. A Memorial Tribute to Bill French. 22 May 2001.

Farolino, Audrey. "Booked for Two More Years, This Shop Continues a Tradition", New York Post, December 2, 1987, with photo of William French in his bookshop.

French, Bettina . Bill French—A Sister's View. 19 October 2001, for The Autodidact Project.

French, William P. "Black Studies: Getting Started in a Specialty", AB Bookman's Weekly, February 22, 1988, pp. 737-739.

Goetz, Thomas. "Closing the Books", The Village Voice, vol. 40, no. 49, Dec. 5, 1995, p. 9.

Lee, Felicia R. "A Trove of History Shuts its Doors", New York Times, Dec. 31, 1995, p. 127.

Lipman, Samuel. "Walter Goldwater: A Memoir." The New Criterion, January, 1991, 8 pp.

Litwack, Leon. "The Unmatched Excitement of Anticipation and Discovery", Chronicle of Higher Education, October 18, 1989, with photo of Bill French in the University Place Book Shop.

McBlain Books, PO Box 185062, Hamden, CT 06518. Phone: 203-281-0400. Phil and Sharon McBlain dedicated their Catalog 139 (1998) of African-Americana to the memory of Bill French; the first page of this catalog is a tribute to Bill (not online).

"New York City Bookshops in the 1930s and 1940s: The Recollections of Walter Goldwater" [interview], DLB Yearbook, 1993, pp. 139-172.

Powell, Alvin. "The Passion and Perils of Book Collecting", The Harvard University Gazette, April 29, 1999. [Mentions the William Plummer French Prize.]

Sengupta, Somini. "The End for an Oasis of Africana", New York Times, Nov. 26, 1995, p. CY8.

Strausbaugh, John. "High Life & Mad English", New York Press, Volume 14, Issue 48, Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2001.

Thometz, Kurt. Bill French & Onitsha Market Literature: Afterword to Life Turns Man Up and Down: High Life, Useful Advice, and Mad English (New York: Pantheon Books, 2001), pp. 339-347.

Thometz, Kurt. Life Turns Man Up and Down: High Life, Useful Advice, and Mad English. New York: Pantheon Books, 2001. See review by John Strausbaugh.

The University of Delaware Library, Special Collections Department, Manuscripts and Archival Resources. Finding Aid: University Place Book Shop Papers, 1968-1988.

The William Plummer French Prize [description of Harvard University prize on "The Autodidact Project" Site]

The William Plummer French Prize [Harvard University site]

Jim Murray, Director (make inquiries here)
Ralph Dumain, Librarian/Archivist & Webmaster

Uploaded 23 May 2001
Last update 17 January 2003
Previous update 14 January 2003