Mandela's publishers pay tribute

Tributes have been paid by the publishing industry to former South African president Nelson Mandela, who died yesterday (5th December) aged 95.

Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison and became a symbol of the fight against apartheid, was elected the first black president of South Africa in 1994.

His story was told in his memoirs, Long Walk to Freedom (Abacus), which has been adapted for a film of the same name, due out in the UK in January. A film tie-in edition of the book was released yesterday.

Richard Beswick, m.d. of Little, Brown and Abacus, said: “It would be difficult to think of a prouder moment in Little, Brown’s history than the worldwide publication of Long Walk to Freedom.”

Little, Brown also published In His Own Words, a collection of Mandela’s speeches, and an audiobook called Nelson Mandela’s Favourite African Folktales, which features readings of traditional tales by people including Whoopi Goldberg and Desmond Tutu.

Pan Macmillan, which published Mandela’s Conversations With Myself among other books, said its thoughts were with the former politician’s family.

In a statement, the publisher said: “It is with great sadness that Pan Macmillan learned last night, along with the rest of the world, of the death of Nelson Mandela. Our thoughts are with Mr Mandela’s family, and the people of South Africa.

“As the proud publishers of his private collection of letters, diaries and notebooks, Conversations With Myself, as well as the children’s illustrated adaptation of Long Walk to Freedom, Macmillan has worked alongside the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory for several years now to bring the inspiring words of this most remarkable of men to the widest possible audience.”

Curtis Brown c.e.o. Jonny Geller, who agented Conversations with Myself, commented: “I think that Nelson Mandela’s legacy is incredibly well protected by The Nelson Mandela Foundation and the work they do, and books like Conversations with Myself and Long Walk to Freedom will keep his memory alive. We’ll continue to learn new lessons from him in generations to come.”

Booksellers have also paid tribute. On social media, Waterstones said: “No words can really do justice to his dignity and contribution to the world”, while Blackwell's Bookshops tweeted that it was "deeply saddened" by the death of the "courageous, inspirational" leader.

Jonathan Ruppin at Foyles, said: "We expect to see a major jump in sales, both for Long Walk to Freedom and the many books about him. Overnight, we've already seen considerable sales online. When such a celebrated figure is lost to us, there's a huge surge in
interest: I think it's comfort to people to remind themselves what an inspirational figure he has been and what a powerful and admirable legacy he has left behind."

Elsewhere authors J M Coetzee and Nadine Gordimer are among those contributing their thoughts on Mandela's passing.

Other books on the leader include Nelson Mandela: Portrait of an Extraordinary Man (Virgin Books) by former Time editor Richard Stengel and Mandela: The Authorised Biography by Anthony Sampson (Harper Press), which has now been updated with an afterword by South African journalist John Battersby. Andre Deutsch will publish illustrated tribute Nelson Mandela: A Force for Freedom by journalist Christina Scott on December 12th (£19.99). Abrams & Chronicle is publishing the official companion book to the new film "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom", Mandela: A Film and Historical Companion (£22.99), featuring film stills alongside archival photographs of actual events, and Mandela's own words extracted from Long Walk to Freedom as well as his personal papers.

Meanwhile Usborne is publish the story of Nelson Mandela for young readers on 10th January. Usborne Young Reading: Nelson Mandela by Katie Daynes (£5.99) will document the complete story of his life for children aged seven plus. 

Amazon has put a section on its homepage in tribute to Mandela, linking to the website for The Nelson Mandela Foundation, The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and The Mandela Rhodes Foundation.