Managing director of Foyle's bookstore dies

CHRISTINA Foyle, managing director of her family's renowned bookstore in London's Charing Cross Road and founder of the Foyle's literary luncheon, has died at 88, a family spokesman said.

Tim Waterstone would not reveal further details and cause of death was not given.

Over the seven decades when she presided over Foyle's lunches, the tiny, regal Miss Foyle met many leading literary and political figures. Her cherished collection of personal correspondence included a letter from Adolf Hitler, responding to her complaint about Nazi book-burning.

W & G Foyle Ltd. was founded in 1904 by Miss Foyle 's father, William, and her uncle, Gilbert.

After failing entrance exams for the civil service, the pair offered their redundant text books for sale and were inundated by offers. So they launched a second-hand book business from home.

Later they graduated to the present site at 119 Charing Cross Road. Constructed in 1929, the current building once housed more than 30 miles (48 kms) of shelves.

Christina Foyle began working there after leaving a Swiss finishing school at 17.

Her idea of bringing readers in contact with writers and thinkers came after she recommended "The Forsythe Saga" to an elderly customer who wanted something to read on the train.

The man bought a copy, but returned it to her shortly afterward with the inscription, "For the young lady who liked my book -- John Galsworthy."

The first luncheon, addressed by Lord Darling, took place on October 1930 with 250 guests. As attendances rose, the event moved to the Dorchester Hotel.

Speakers included the writer J. B. Priestley, philosopher Bertrand Russell and Ethiopian leader Haile Selassie.

After a lunch for 2,000, George Bernard Shaw wrote to lament the lack of vegetarian food. Inviting him to another event, Miss Foyle assured Shaw that cheese and celery would be offered. He declined, saying he could not stand the idea of 2,000 people crunching celery simultaneously.

In the summer of 1940, after France fell to the Germans, one of the speakers was Col Charles de Gaulle, whose speech is credited with making a crucial difference to his credibility with Britain.

When she took over as managing director of Foyle's after her father's death in 1963, Miss Foyle refused to delegate the hiring of staff, most of whom had short contracts and meagre pay.

She preserved the store's eccentric layout -- books were filed by publisher, not author -- and accounting practices. And she refused to install computers.

But Foyle's continued to generate annual profits of more than 15 million pounds .

Miss Foyle's husband, Ronald Batty, died in 1994. There were no children.

Funeral details were not immediately available.

Sapa-AP