From the website of Shakespeare and Company...
"On Wednesday 14th December, 2011, George Whitman died peacefully at home in the apartment above his bookshop in Paris. George suffered a stroke two months ago, but showed incredible strength and determination up to the end, continuing to read every day in the company of his daughter, Sylvia, his friends and his cat and dog. He died two days after his 98th birthday.
Nicknamed the Don Quixote of the Latin Quarter, George will be remembered for his free spirit, his eccentricity and his generosity. He will be buried at Père Lachaise cemetery in the good company of other men and women of letters..."
Rest peacefully, gentle angel
Shakespeare and Company
37, rue Bûcherie
75005 Paris
27 comments:
May he rest in peace. This is a very famous bookstore. I have read of it and the name appeared in a book I was reading one time.
I join you in the beautiful prayer:
"rest peacefully, gentle angel"
Helen xx
Looks like my kind of bookstore.
You know, I had always though this to be THE original, the bookstore of Sylvia Beach and Hemingway and Joyce. It is only when reading the obits for Mr Whitman that I was rudely jolted into reality.
May he rest in peace. Such a peaceful way to go. It does indeed look like my kind of bookstore.
Sylvia
Au revoir, Monsieur Whitman. Veronique (French Girl in Seattle)
God rest his soul.
What a beautiful place to have lived......just imaging all the famous literary types he must have seen in his lifetime! Shakespeare and Co. is one of my favorite places to go in Paris - I still have a copy of Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation I purchased there.
Joyeux Noel dear Genie♡
Au revoir, Monsieur Whitman. How lovely that he was able to read until the end and with his loved ones around him. That we should all be so blessed. Bon weekend, Genie...
Hello, great pleasure to go through your beautiful space, I wanted to greet you this holiday season,
Happy Holidays!
a hug.
A mythic place if ever.. Did you notice the bench?:)
To exist for 98 years is a great achievement - To wander thru S&Co is to walk thru history. I brought back the paperback of shop''s history when there and later that night dined next door.
A great memory.
Leon
I know this place well, having browsed there many a time when I lived in Paris, and from when I stayed at Hotel Esmeralda two years ago. What a man he was; a long, wonderful life.
a perfectly beautiful post.
The bookshop is and will remain a true institution.
Greetings from an Amish community in Pennsylvania, I'm just checking out different blogs and thought id leave a comment. Happy holidays to everyone as well. Richard from Amish Stories
Ahhhhh a book shop one of my favourite places. Have a great Xmas Genie and all the best for 2012 Best Wishes Kev x
He lived a long life and passed peacefully, who could ask for more. As you say Genie he will be in good company in Pere Lachaise!
btw when you said you surfed in your teen years I immediately got an image of Sally Fields in the role of 'Gidget' I bet you were cute as!!
Ahh now I know why it was closed on the day we visited in late October. xxxx
God bless him!
Cezar
Last month's Issue of France magazine featured Shakespeare and Company, namely Sylvia Beach who founded the original bookstore in Paris. I read this article just a few days ago and then came across a newspaper article announcing the passing of its current proprietor, George Whitman. He sounds like a fabulous supporter of the arts, following and enlarging the footsteps made by Sylvia. May he rest in peace. FYI, his daughter is now running Shakespeare and Company.
Thanks for the post.
How lucky for us that he started this bookstore.
98? Think of all the stories he read and knew.
I have happily spent time here. I always thought it was the place made famous by its proprietor, Sylvia Beach, but in reading about Mr. Whitman, I learned that her bookstore was at a different location and was named Shakespeare and Company by Mr. Whitman to honor the earlier bookstore.
I didn't realize that the still lived there. Amazing long life. He was a character that no one that met him will ever forget.
V
Love it, what a storybook storefront that is. Thanks for the pic!
May his legacy live on...
A sweet pean to this lovely man.
Oh, I did not know! Thank you for sharing the news and your lovely photo. I adore this spot in Paris ... What a remarkable haven Mr. Whitman nurtured.
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