George Whitman

George Whitman
94-year-old George Whitman above his bookshop in 2008 by Olivier Meyer
Born(1913-12-12)December 12, 1913
DiedDecember 14, 2011(2011-12-14) (aged 98)
Paris, France
OccupationProprietor
ChildrenSylvia Whitman

George Whitman (December 12, 1913 – December 14, 2011) was an American bookseller who lived most of his life in France. He was the founder and proprietor of the second Shakespeare and Company, which was named after Sylvia Beach's celebrated original bookstore of the same name (1919 to 1941) on Paris's Left Bank.[1][2] He was a contemporary of writers such as Allen Ginsberg, Anaïs Nin, and Lawrence Durrell, as well as a lifelong friend of the poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

In 2006 he was awarded the Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres medal by the French government for his contribution to the arts over the previous fifty years.[3]

  1. ^ Jo Lennan. "Paris: 10 Things to Do — 4. Shakespeare and Company Bookshop". Time. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  2. ^ "Shakespeare & Company". Time Out Paris. November 16, 2011. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  3. ^ A. Craig Copetas (June 7, 2009). "Hemingway's Hangout Spruces Up to Defy Amazon". Bloomberg. Retrieved October 14, 2014.