Rayner Unwin

Unwin was born in 1925 in Hampstead, London, one of four children from the marriage of publisher Stanley Unwin and Mary née Storr (1883–1971). Allen & Unwin published The Hobbit in September 1937. After attending Abbotsholme School in Rocester between the ages of 10 and 17, Unwin started working as a book salesman for Basil Blackwell, whose father was the founder of Blackwell's bookshop in Oxford. Between 1944 and 1947, he served in East Asia as a sub-lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. He then studied for an undergraduate degree at Trinity College, Oxford, before completing a master's degree in English at Harvard University, which he attended as a Fulbright scholar. ==Career==

Allen and Unwin Rayner Unwin entered publishing in 1951, working for his father's firm George Allen & Unwin, with a starting salary of £35 per week. Unwin was also responsible for the first UK publication of the Roald Dahl children's books James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Dahl had been struggling to find a publisher for these titles in the UK, but caught the attention of Unwin after Unwin's daughter Camilla became captivated by a copy of James and the Giant Peach that her schoolfriend Tessa Dahl (Roald's daughter) had given her. When Sir Stanley died in 1968, Unwin became the new chairman of the firm. ==Personal life==

Unwin married Carol Margaret née Curwen (1924–2012) on 3 April 1952. Carol's father Harold also worked in the publishing trade, as the owner of the Curwen Press. The two families had known each other for a long time, as Stanley Unwin and Harold Curwen had attended Abbotsholme School together. Carol Curwen was working as a nurse at the time of their marriage. Unwin died of cancer on 23 November 2000 at the Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. His cremated remains were taken by his daughter to the Himalayas and scattered there. == The Unwin Charitable Trust ==

The Unwin Charitable Trust was established in 1975 by Rayner Unwin using a bequest from his father, Sir Stanley Unwin. It began by supporting the Book Trust and the Publishing Training Centre, relationships that continue to thrive, along with "many other good causes that benefit and promote publishing and the distribution of the printed word, schemes that encourage literacy and the enjoyment of reading". The Trustees are Adrian Stephenson, Frances Pra-Lopez, and Merlin Spedding Unwin, son of Rayner. With support of the Booksellers Association, the Trust has a free mentoring programme for small, independent booksellers; Sheila O’Reilly has the role of mentor. Georgina Miller is the Trust's contact person. In 2017 the Trust had income of £244.7K. == References ==