The publishing newcomers, gathered at the Book Fair, feel indebted to Claudio López Lamadrid, who passed away last January.

Publishing is a profession for crazy people, said Inge Feltrinelli. Work which exposes you to the elements, and whose fruits are as uncertain as taste or time. Within this madness worked Claudio López Lamadrid, who passed away in January at the height of a career which took him to the top of Penguin Random House and which began with Beatriz de Moura in Tusquets, packing books. A publisher and a legend. Young people and veterans came together yesterday at the Madrid Book Fair to highlight his legacy. Some of his disciples were there, as well as madmen such as the legendary Feltrinelli. Both in and outside the enclosure, we spoke to the young heirs to this spirit. Jan Martí, the founder of the publishing house Blackie Books, for example, was “an eccentric” who learned the basics of the profession from his father at RBA.

He decided to let his taste guide him and challenged the reluctance of distributors. He convinced booksellers not to be so crazy and he successfully made his company what it is today, 10 years later; capable of making Voltaire’s Candid into something newsworthy. He stuck his neck out with the forgotten Gloria Fuertes, and with Jardiel Poncela, who he gave jeans and flowers to, and everything worked out for him because he is not cynical.

Read more: The World News