'Always cheery' veteran activist and New Beacon co-founder Sarah White dies

Sarah White, the veteran activist and co-founder of the UK’s first Black specialist bookshop, has died, two months before her 81st birthday.

Her death on 4th February was announced by the trustees of the George Padmore Institute, for whom White was secretary until 2021. 

In 1966, White co-founded London’s iconic New Beacon Books in Finsbury Park with her husband John La Rose and remained a director there until 2019. 

She was involved in the Caribbean Artists Movement, supported the Black Parents Movement, and was one of the main organisers of the International Book Fairs of Radical Black and Third World Books.

In 1991 she spearheaded efforts to set up the institute, creating an archive, educational research and information centre housing materials and documents relating mainly to Black communities of Caribbean, African and Asian descent, in post-war Britain and continental Europe. White was a generous donor to the institute, and led on most of its fundraising activities. 

Under her joint leadership, the bookshop has weathered numerous threats of closure and organised successful crowdfunding to secure its future. It is now run by her son, Michael La Rose. 

"Always cheery, with a ready laugh belying her sharp memory and intellect, Sarah will be greatly missed by us and by so many other people in the UK and all over the world who had the privilege to know her," the GPI trustees said in a statement. 

A small family funeral is planned, with a larger celebration to be held later on in the year. Tributes and condolences may be sent to sarahwhitememorial@gmail.com.