Tim Waterstone, Born 1939
bookseller
Sir Tim Waterstone, whose father was a tea planter in India, was educated at Tonbridge School and St. Catharine’s College Cambridge where he read English. His friends and contemporaries there included the actor Ian McKellen and the comedian Peter Cook. He spent a lot of time browsing in Heffers, which kindled his interest in bookshops. After spells working for a broking firm in Calcutta, India, he worked as a marketing manager for Allied Breweries, then for W.H.Smith. In 1982, at the age of 42, he emptied his bank account and launched Waterstones with a view to bringing a quality bookshop to every town. They grew to be the biggest chain of bookshops in Europe.
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