TRIBUTES have been paid to John Calder, a seminal figure in both publishing and theatre, who has died at the age of 91.
A publisher of Samuel Beckett, with whom he was friends, Calder was also the co-founder of the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh.
He co-founded the International Writer's Conference, as part of the 1962 International Festival, which featured some of most important authors of the 20th centuries including as Normal Mailer, Henry Miller, Muriel Spark and Hugh MacDiarmid.
Fergus Linehan, director of the EIF, said: "We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of John Calder whose rigorous and mischievous intellect has illuminated the cultural scene in Edinburgh, Scotland and internationally.
"His influence is still seen in the Festival today, as we celebrate the work of Marguerite Duras, Samuel Beckett and the return of Peter Brook to the Festival.
"Our thoughts are with his wife, our former Associate Director, Sheila Colvin and John’s family during this time."
Calder, born in Canada, but long resident in the UK and Scotland, founded his own company in 1949, now part of Alma Classics.
Calder Publishing published Chekhov, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky.
It also published the poetry, novels, criticism and plays of Beckett.
He died at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, on Monday, after suffering "a rapid decline in health over the past few weeks", the Bookseller reported.
Calder helped introduce British readers to writers including Eugene Ionesco, Marguerite Duras and Alain Robbe-Grillet, and also Americans, publishing Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer and William S. Burroughs' The Naked Lunch.
In 1966 he was convicted of obscenity for publishing Hubert Selby's "Last Exit to Brooklyn."
The conviction was overturned in a landmark free-speech case.
Nick Barley, director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival said: "It is with great sadness that we heard of the death of John Calder.
"John, together with Jim Haynes, was instrumental in arranging the seminal 1962 Writers Conference in Edinburgh - the precursor to the Edinburgh International Book Festival."
He added: "We were delighted that in 2012, the 50th anniversary of that event, he was able to participate at our own Edinburgh World Writers Conference.
"He was one of publishing’s great mavericks – bold, thrawn and iconoclastic.
"His voice and influence will be very much missed."
Orla O'Loughlin, the artistic director of the Traverse, said: "The entire Traverse team is deeply saddened to hear of the death of John Calder, one of our visionary founders.
"His contribution to culture, both in Scotland and beyond, was invaluable and will continue long into the future.
"We were delighted to celebrate John’s incredible creative legacy in a dedicated programme of events in 2014, and know that his dynamism and intellect will be missed throughout the world of theatre, as well as by those who were closest to him.
"We are all thinking of his family, friends and those who cared for him, and share in their sorrow at his passing."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here