Frank Wilson Leaves the Inquirer

And it is sad, sad news for the book world, as M.A. Orthofer explains:

No one has done as much to bridge any divides between newspaper and online literary coverage, through his own weblog, his generous invitations to so many of us bloggers to review for The Philadelphia Inquirer, and, most of all, his always supportive and open-minded attitude, and we can only hope that he continues his fine work wherever his next stop may be.

I could not agree more, and I think the book world won't fully know just how big this loss is. In a lot of ways, I owe Frank Wilson serious debt for giving me a chance to review books I might never have had the chance to review elsewhere. Crime fiction was, is and will be my first love, but at the Inquirer, I got to review pretty much any book I thought was interesting, whether literary fiction, true crime, or pop culture.  And I was always thrilled to see fine folk like Mark Sarvas, Scott Esposito, Ed Champion, Ed Pettit, Vikram Johri, Maxine Clarke, David Montgomery, Jen Miller in the Inquirer's book pages. Who else would be so open-minded and broad-minded about including bloggers?

So when Friday ends, I'll raise a glass in Frank's honor. I'll miss working with him and know many, many others will, too.

Comments

[David J. Montgomery]

Frank was one of the best people in a difficult business and he will certainly be missed.

[Clea Simon]

Oh bummer. My contact with him was limited, but he always seemed honorable and open minded. I'll miss him.

[David Thayer]

I'll be interested to see what Frank does next. His sensibility elevates the industry.

[Maxine]

Good post, Sarah, you sum it up so well. I agree totally.
It has been lovely, learning via Frank to write about something that isn't science. I continue to review at Euro Crime (in my off-duty moments!) but I shall very much miss the opportunity to review for the PI. Glad to say that Frank is continuing the blog (Books, Inq.) so that is great news.