Obituary Note: Brook Stephenson

Shelf Awareness

Brook Stephenson

Writer and former bookseller Brook Stephenson died August 9. He was 41. "For 11 years, Brook worked at the McNally Jackson bookstore" in Manhattan, the Brooklyn Reader wrote, adding that his most recent position was as director of literature & development at the Clever Agency, "a branding company bent on changing the world for the better one fun project at a time."

Stephenson was also founder of the Rhode Island Writer's Colony, which was created to "provide space and time for writers of color to work on their craft," the Brooklyn Reader noted. In addition to writing for such publications as Ebony and Crisis, he was preparing his first novel, The Maturation of Moses Jones, for publication at the time of his death.

Angela Maria Spring, manager at Politics & Prose, Washington, D.C., and a former colleague of Stephenson at McNally Jackson, observed: "My heart and thoughts go out to the family and friends of our friend, Brook Stephenson, a bookseller at McNally Jackson in NYC. Brook, who passed away this weekend, was the soul of kindness, with a smile for everyone and a genuine love of life that showed in everything he did, especially bookselling. His was a bright light that went out far too soon."