My friend Frank Collieson, who has died aged 90, was a well-known and popular figure among Cambridge bibliophiles. He worked for many years at the Cambridge bookshop Heffers, where he rose to be general manager of the booksellers division and, in 1977, a director of the company.
Responsible for all aspects of design and presentation at Heffers, he took a special interest in displays and book launches, which would invariably be accompanied by much wine and lively conversation. For more than 20 years he was also honorary secretary of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society.
Frank was born in Hanwell, west London, the son of Albert, a postman, and Jessie (nee Noone), who had worked as a children’s nanny before her marriage, and as a postwoman during the first world war. After leaving Drayton Manor school at 16 Frank started work as an office boy for the London bureau of the New York Times, then based in the Savoy hotel. In 1944 he was conscripted for war service as a Bevin Boy in the mines of Northumberland, where he remained until 1947.
Following his return to London, Frank took up a post as a press officer at the National Coal Board, where in 1951 he met Mary Adnitt, a secretary, whom he married in 1953. After a period as a print and production assistant with the Gordon Fraser printing company in Bedford, Frank was taken on by Heffers. In 1987 he was awarded an honorary master of arts degree by Cambridge University in recognition of his contribution to the cultural life of Cambridge and the university. On his retirement from Heffers in 1991 the then Cambridge Evening News described him as “one of the city’s most popular men of letters”.
In his private life Frank was calm and reflective, and his wide-ranging interests, excellent memory and fund of good stories made him fascinating company over a cup of tea or glass of whisky. He had a large circle of friends.
Mary died in 2001. He is survived by their two daughters, Jennifer and Clare.
