Book Publisher Founder Dies

Gracia Alkema, the founding president of educational book publisher Corwin, passed away on April 9 following a short illness. Alkema named the publishing firm after her mother’s maiden name and used part of the family’s coat of arms in the company logo. Corwin is part of SAGE Publications, based in Thousand Oaks. Alkema was retired from the company. Since its founding in 1990, Corwin grew into one of the leading professional publishers in pre-K–12 education. In 2010, Corwin published nearly 200 titles. Corwin was a great achievement that Alkema started from scratch, said David McCune, then-CEO of SAGE when Corwin started. Countless students, teachers and colleagues have benefited from her imagination, energy and skill,” McCune said. Mark R. Madler