NCIBA Executive Director Hut Landon to Retire

Hut Landon, the longtime executive director for the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association, announced last week his plan to retire by the end of the year.

In a letter to NCIBA members, Landon explained that he has not tired of the book business. “What I am is a newly minted 65-year-old with a yen to spend more time at home and traveling with my wife, Joy,” he wrote.

Since his announcement went out, “I have been overwhelmed, frankly, by the number of people who have taken the time to write to wish me well. It’s very gratifying and humbling,” said Landon.

The NCIBA board has appointed a search committee to find Landon’s successor prior to the Fall Discovery Show, which will take place October 15–16 in San Francisco. Landon will serve on the committee and said he will stay with NCIBA as long as necessary to train his successor and ease the transition.

Landon noted he would be interested in working part-time in a bookstore once he steps down from his post, and invited suggestions for book-related projects. “I’m not off to a retirement home, and I still want to work, but I’d also like the freedom to take a trip, spend more time with friends and family, exercise every day, and, every once in a while, just do nothing,” he said.

“Hut has provided extraordinary leadership for NCIBA, and he is very highly regarded by all the regional associations around the country for his many, many contributions to indie bookselling, not the least of which is Independent Bookstore Day,” said ABA CEO Oren Teicher. “I’ve had the honor of working with Hut for almost 25 years, and, speaking for myself and all us at ABA, we will miss him a great deal.”

A longtime fixture in the bookselling community of Northern California, Landon became a bookstore owner in 1984 when he and his sister purchased a shop in Novato, California, naming it Landon Books. They later bought a second store in Marin County and closed the Novato location.

Landon served on the NCIBA board as a bookseller for 10 years before becoming part-time assistant director. He closed Landon Books when he became executive director of NCIBA in 1999.

As executive director, Landon has been integral in supporting the growing independent bookselling community in the region, introducing programs such as Book Sense, which later became IndieBound, and playing a key role in developing California Bookstore Day in 2014 and Independent Bookstore Day in 2015. Landon also co-founded and served as executive director of the San Francisco Locally Owned Merchants Alliance.

The full details of the executive director position are listed on the NCIBA Classifieds page.