Richard Booth | |
|---|---|
 Richard Booth in 1984 | |
| Born | Richard George William Pitt Booth (1938-09-12)12 September 1938 |
| Died | 20 August 2019(2019-08-20) (aged 80) Brynmelyn,Cusop,Herefordshire, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Merton College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Bookseller |
| Known for | Booktown Movement |
| Style | King of Hay |
| Political party | Socialist Labour Party (UK) |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Westall (m. 1969,div.) Hope Stuartnée Barrie (m. 1987) |
| Parent(s) | Philip Booth (1897–1970)[1] Elizabeth Pitt |
| Relatives | Frederick Marryat (g-g-gf) Viva King (aunt) John Rudolphus Booth (cousin) |
| Awards | _Ribbon.svg) MBE |
Richard George William Pitt BoothMBE (12 September 1938 – 20 August 2019) was an Englishbookseller,bibliophile and literarypublicist.[2]
Seated atHay Castle, and a scion of theancient Cheshire family,[3] Booth establishedHay-on-Wye as aliterary centre becoming the self-proclaimedKing of Hay.[4]
AppointedMBE in2004 for "services to tourism", Booth paved the way for theHay Literary Festival.
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In 2014, Booth gave his name to an annualliterary award in association with theHay Writers' Circle.[5]Judges and winners of theRichard Booth Prize for Non-Fiction include:
| Year | Judge | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Rachel Cooke | Jo Jones | |
| 2015 | Colin McDowell | Emma van Woerkom | |
| 2016 | Dan Davies | Juliet Foster | |
| 2017 | Noel Kingsbury | Ange Grunsell | |
| 2018 | Oliver Bullough | Marianne Rosen | |
| 2019 | Phil Carradice | ||
| 2020 | Rib Davis | Kerry Hodges | |
| 2021 | Roland White | Gill Haigh | |
| 2022 | Gilly Smith | Lily Rose King | |
Booth stood unsuccessfully for theSocialist Labour Party as aprospective AM candidate at the1999 Welsh Assembly elections[6] and forWales constituencyMEP at the2009 European Parliament elections.
| Year | Region | Party | Votes | % | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Mid and West Wales | SLP | 3,019 | 1.4 | Not elected[7] |
| Year | Region | Party | Votes | % | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Wales | SLP | 12,402 | 1.8 | Not elected | Multi-member constituency; party list |
In 2009, a revolt was held against the "King" by so-called republicans, led by bookseller and proprietor of Oxford House Books, Paul Harris, who journalist Sean Dodson called a "Cromwell figure".[8] He was former employee of Booth's, reported as being "tutored at the knee" of the self-declared regent and helping him move large "lorry loads" of books from the United States to the UK, in an on-off "love/hate" working relationship that lasted over a decade. Despite Harris's leading of a trial of treason and symbolic "beheading" of Booth, they "remained on good terms".[8] After becoming independent of Booth and setting up his own bookshop in the town, subsequently setting up a commonwealth, became the "first minister" and planned to set up a Speaker's Corner, which would establish Hay as a bastion of "free speech".[8]
The "trial for treason" was not just apublicity stunt; like the initial declaration of independence by Booth, it was inspired by political concerns, but instead of economic decline, the rebels were inspired by concerns around the issue ofgentrification. Though Harris is not recorded as having used the word, he was concerned about the threat posed to the independent character of the town by the over-dependence on the commercial, outsider interests of the Hay Festival, "saying, we cannot trade off the profile of the festival for 52 weeks a year". Indeed, Harris's prosecuting argument was that the Hay Festival had become too publicly dominant and had negatively impacted the economic fortunes of the many secondhand books shops that made up the town.[9]
Harris argued that Booth, a promotional figurehead of the town due to his self-declared kingship, had been negligent in promoting the issues of the booksellers over the festival. He told the press in 2009, "You can fill a town with books, but that won't bring people to the town[...] You need publicity and promotion, which is now all sucked up by the festival. Richard used to be great at drumming up publicity and denouncing the festival. He's not able to do that any more, so we need to set up a council to replace him."[9] and "My point is we've retired him, and if you have any respect for him then let him have a rest – he's 71."[10] Another of the to-be commonwealth, bookseller and "Witchfinder General" Peter "Boz" Harries agreed, arguing that Booth had failed in his crown duty, adding, "We think this is a natural continuation. There are one or two locals who think it is rather cruel, but when Richard had his coronation in the 1970s a lot of locals were vehemently against him."[10]
There were opponents to the republican mission, including Booth himself, who said "I don't think it's worth having an argument as they don't know what they're talking about [...] The revolting peasants are revolting."[10] The founder of the Hay FestivalPeter Florence was similarly dismissive, blaming the decreasing fortunes of thebooksellers individually and saying, they "need to rethink their (business) strategy".[11]
Several novelists spoke out in response to the planned trial and beheading, some in support, some against.Duncan Fallowell said, "I call the festival Waterstones-on-Wye. It's almost lost touch with intellectual value" butMatthew Engel said, "Many festival goers don't go into the town, but the idea that the festival detracts from Hay is clearly preposterous."[11]
However, Harris argued that booksellers had seen a fifty percent decrease in sales in the years leading up to the revolt. Popular British novelistRobert Harris commentating at the time, sympathised with the booksellers, also suggesting that the recession and the internet had affected their fortunes.[11]
The "beheading" of Booth's effigy took place on 27 September 2009 at the Old Butter Market in Hay town centre,[12] with the rebels dressed asRoundheads and the pro-Booth Royalists likeCavaliers (contrary to hisBooth family history). Paul Harris led the charge, and applause and jeers from the peripheries of the Butter Market could be heard when the fake head of Booth rolled into the bucket.[13][14]
