Peter Usborne | |
---|---|
Born | Thomas Peter Usborne 18 August 1937 |
Died | 30 March 2023 | (aged 85)
Education |
Summer Fields School,
[1]
Oxford; Eton College, [1] Berkshire |
Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford; [1] INSEAD [1] |
Occupation | Publisher |
Years active | 1973–2023 |
Known for | Usborne Publishing |
Thomas Peter Usborne CBE (18 August 1937 – 30 March 2023) was a British publisher. In the early 1960s, Usborne co-founded the satirical magazine Private Eye. [1] In 1973 he founded the children's book publisher Usborne Publishing. [1] [2]
Usborne was educated at Summer Fields School, [1] an independent boys' boarding and day preparatory school in the city of Oxford, followed by Eton College, [1] an independent boys' boarding school near the town of Windsor, in Berkshire. He then went up to Balliol College at the University of Oxford, [1] followed by INSEAD business school, [1] at the time based in Fontainebleau, a commune of the city of Paris, in France.
Usborne was the first managing director of the London-based satirical magazine Private Eye from its foundation in 1961, before leaving to study at INSEAD. [3]
After taking a position at the British Printing Corporation, he started working in children's books when he found out he was going to become a parent. [1] Soon afterwards, in 1973, he set up his own company. [4] [5] [6] [1]
His eponymous publishing company was named Children's Publisher of the Year at the British Book Awards in both 2012 and 2020, [7] Independent Publisher of the Year at the Independent Publishing Awards in 2014, [8] and Private Business of the Year in 2015. [9]
Usborne specialised in illustrated children's books: according to his Daily Telegraph obituary, most of the company's books were "conceived, written and designed in-house". [1] Its best-known books include the Usborne Puzzle Adventure series, [10] the World of the Unknown series [11] [12] [13] the Book of the Future, Poppy and Sam's Farmyard Tales, [11] Sticker Dolly Dressing and the "That's not my" [11] series of touchy-feely board books for babies by Fiona Watt. [14]
Usborne said that parenthood had been the greatest privilege of his life, and that publishing children's books had been an extension of that. [15] [16]
In 2007, the Usborne family founded The Usborne Foundation, [17] a registered charity [18] which harnesses research, design and technology to create playful media addressing issues from literacy to health. Teach Your Monster to Read [19] is a series of games that has helped millions of children learn to read, funded by The Usborne Foundation. His son, Martin, also runs a publishing company, Hoxton Mini Press. [20] [21]
On 30 March 2023, Usborne died "suddenly but peacefully", surrounded by his family. He was 85. Usborne was survived by his wife, Wendy, children Nicola and Martin, and his five grandchildren. [22]
Usborne was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to the publishing industry, [23] and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to literature. [24] He was awarded the London Book Fair Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015. [25] [26]