Rayner Unwin

Rayner Unwin with a copy of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, which he, aged 10, recommended to his father, the publisher Sir Stanley Unwin Rayner Stephens Unwin CBE (23 December 1925 – 23 November 2000) He served as the chairman of the publishing firm George Allen & Unwin, which had been founded by his father Sir Stanley Unwin.

Early life 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).

Most notable among the reviews he wrote for his father was his 1936 report, aged 10, for the J. R. R. Tolkien book The Hobbit. "It wasn't a great piece of literary criticism," he later said of the report, "but in those happy days, no second opinion was needed; if I said it was good enough to publish, it was published." 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.

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 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.