Ian Randle Publishers
| Ian Randle | |
|---|---|
| Born |
7 July 1949 Hanover |
| Nationality | Jamaican |
| Occupation | Publisher |
Ian Randle (born 7 July 1949) is a Jamaican publisher. He is the founder of an eponymous independent publishing company whose main focus is on English-language readers.
Randle was born in Hanover on Jamaica in 1949. He read for a Special Honours degree in history at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies, Jamaica, and later for an MSc in international politics at the University of Southampton UK on a Commonwealth scholarship. After his academic study he worked many years for British publishers until he set up his own firm, Ian Randle Publishers (IRP). This start made him the first English-language publisher of scholarly books in the Caribbean. Later, his firm became a model for particularly the African book scene.
At first Randle focused on history and the social sciences, which allowed young academics to publish their findings locally. As a result, the region became less dependent on writers from the United Kingdom, the colonizer of Jamaica until 1962. In later years Randle expanded the range of books to include biography, culture, cookery, and sports, while producing texts for undergraduate-level students and the upper levels of the Caribbean secondary school system. His list contains the most comprehensive offerings on the Regional Integration Movement and on the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). His published list contains over 350 printed titles and some electronic editions.
The direction of the firm is now in the hands of Randle's daughter Christine, while he himself has continued in fields such as marketing, public relations and consultancy.
In 2000 Randle helped establish the Caribbean Publishers Network (CAPNET) and became its first president, serving for two 2-year terms, during which he established links with the international publishing community and with publishers in Africa through the sister organization APNET. During this period Randle contributed regularly to the University of Denver Publishing Institute delivering the annual lecture on international publishing and presenting papers in a variety of international publishing and education fora.
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