An Accidental Bookseller

Bill Samuel was born into the Foyle bookselling family. After qualifying as a chartered accountant his path through life took him from Surrey via Denmark, East Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean to Charing Cross Road where he played a major role in rebuilding his family's business Foyles Bookshop. Along the way he attempted to build hotels in Kenya, was an investment banker in Bahrain, Director of Tourism and Superintendent of Offshore Finance in The Turks and Caicos Islands and Commercial Advisor to the Government of St Helena. He describes himself as semi-retired but is still actively involved in various organisations, mostly charitable, none of which pay him anything. He co-founded the Emirates Literary Festival over coffee with a fellow bookseller in Dubai and is involved in the planting of an olive grove in Palestine. His passions include human rights, books, food and the environment. He is married and lives in London and Northamptonshire. He has three daughters and a sort-of-adopted son, plus a fair number of grandchildren.