On author's deaths and the effect on their book prices ...

[imagine.ink]

I know this is a rather morbid topic, but I don't think any booksellers can deny that there seems to be an association between the death of an author and the subsequent demand for their books. 

I think it might be helpful if we, as booksellers, inform each other of the deaths of any authors that may have flown under the radar.

You would think, given the rampant and ubiquitous social media transmitting all sorts of information, that any author's death, no matter how obscure, would not be overlooked, but I was recently shocked to discover that Theodore Hesburgh, longtime president of Notre Dame University and author of several books, passed away on February 26 at the the age of 97.  

Knowing his advanced age, I had been holding onto a book signed by him.  Yet, although I consider myself a fairly avid news consumer, I didn't learn of his passing until less than a week ago and that was only when I happened to flip through a month-old Catholic newspaper and saw a story about it.

I promptly listed the book, albeit about a month later than the ideal time, and fortunately got a bid on it.

However, I think it might be helpful to use this thread to inform each other of the passing of any authors.  Not everyone garners the level of attention of Tom Clancy.    

[bookthink]

This might be useful to some of you >>>

https://www.facebook.com/celebritydeathbeeper

They have a website as well where you can register if you aren't on Facebook.

[figtree3]

I found that the Legacy site includes a way to search by category. Here is a list of Authors:

http://www.legacy.com/memorial-sites/authors/profile-search.aspx?beginswith=All

These go back farther in time but at the top there is a way to narrow by most recent dates.

I like that Facebook site; thanks for the link!

I'd be happy to also contribute to this thread if I happen to find out about an author who has recently passed away.

Fig

[imagine.ink]

Thanks to both Fig and Craig for those helpful links!

Interestingly, Theodore Hesburgh didn't make either list (yet still authored several books).   So now I don't feel so dense about not hearing that he passed away!

[picture*books]

I'm holding on to a couple of Mark Twain first editions until he passes and is not greatly exaggerated.

[lyceumdreams]

"A man who holds a book until the tail end learns something he can learn in no other way."

[lludwig]

The publication in 1959 of the “The Tin Drum” propelled Günter Grass to the forefront of postwar literature.

Günter Grass, German Novelist and Social Critic, Dies at 87
New York Times, April 13, 2015

Günter Grass, the German novelist, social critic and Nobel Prize winner whom many called his country’s moral conscience but who stunned Europe when he revealed in 2006 that he had been a member of the Waffen-SS during World War II, died on Monday. He was 87.

Rest of article: 

http://tinyurl.com/lzyvfpv

[rockmaple]

Eugenie Clark, aka The Shark Lady, recently died. I saw her speak at the Museum of Natural History in NYC many years ago and she was very interesting- what a dynamo! I have a first edition copy of one of her books here somewhere that I bought a long while back. It's tucked away in a box somewhere and it is unlikely that it will surface anytime soon. If you come across a nice copy in the wild it might be worth picking up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenie_Clark

[ozarkjoe]

I've been tempted to ask about this very same topic but was afraid to do so.  I am glad that someone else did the job for me.  In general I will try to look for books immediately after the author is in the news, for a death or some other event.  I have not seen enough data to know how much of a price bump to expect.

[imagine.ink]

The price bump can be significant.

Regarding the Theodore Hesburgh book which opened this thread, I seem to recall signed comps selling in the range of $25 on eBay when I last did price checks in the winter of 2012 or so.

At the time of his passing, I was able to sell the signed book for $100.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SIGNED-THEODORE-HESBURGH-Notre-Dame-TRAVELS-with-TED-NED-1st-FIRST-Edition-/...

[imagine.ink]

Not an author ... but she did pose for a Norman Rockwell cover of The Saturday Evening Post, so it fits under the book category:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/23/living/rosie-the-riveter-dies/

The model for Rosie the Riveter passed away this week at the age of 92.

[emmbook]

---

@imagine.ink wrote:

The price bump can be significant.

---

But usually short-lived. The Hesburgh book can be had online now for as little as $12 signed.

Morbid, maybe, but it is a practical consideration for booksellers. I'm holding back some signed stuff from well-known authors who are in their 80s and 90s.

[jkachelmeyer]

A few years ago the Last Whole Earth catalog shot up in price to something like $500 after Steve Jobs death.  It promptly shot back down.  I'll get $10 for them these days, though they always sell, and are relatively easy to find.

[figtree3]

What do you think about an author such as Frederic Morton, who recently died?

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/books/frederic-morton-author-and-essayist-dies-at-90.html

I have heard of him, probably more in terms of his essays than his books. Yet I had heard of The Rothschilds, which this article calls his best-known book. Would his books go up in value temporarily also? I guess my real question is, are there factors that affect whether there is a spike in the selling prices of books by recently-deceased authors? If so, what are some of the factors? (OK, I asked three questions, not one.)

Fig

[imagine.ink]

You wrote:

"What do you think about an author such as Frederic Morton, who recently died?  Are there factors that affect whether there is a spike in the selling prices of books by recently-deceased authors?  If so, what are some of the factors?"

(I consolidated all your questions into one paragraph.)

Personally, I had never heard of Frederic Morton.  However, upon reading your link, he seems to have written books which were very well-received and gained a particular prominence in Austria.

Since eBay is a global marketplace, I believe there would be renewed interest in his works upon news of his passing.  

I think the predominant factors which affect a spike in selling prices are:

1) The death of an author with whom people identify.  Such identification occurs mostly because they enjoy or or moved by the author's writings.  

However, as in the case of Theodore Hesburgh, their own life may have intersected the author's life in some way ... such as being a graduate of Notre Dame, the college where Hesburgh was President for many years.

2) The signature of an author in a book magnifies the above effects.

3) A cultural occurrence which brings a book into prominence after many years of lackadaisacal sales.   Such an event can be a film release as when The Great Gatsby surged in popularity upon the release of  Baz Luhrmann's film in 2013.  

Or it can be as seemingly insignificant as an offhand comment by a cultural mover-and-shaker, as when Bill Gates mentioned that the 1969 tome  Business Adventures was his favorite business book.  Thereafter, its popularity surged so significantly that the title was re-released as a paperback years after it had gone out of print.