Tony Wales: a person with an unrivalled knowledge of the worldwide publishing

Tony Wales, who passed away on 28 October, was co-founder of Lion Publishing with David and Pat Alexander. Julia Cameron pays tribute. 

Tony Wales, David and Pat Alexander together steered a ship which never lost its bearings. Lion Publishing was the primary Christian publisher to give attention to the overall market. While the Seventies saw the opening of Christian bookshops across the UK, these weren’t the major ones in Lion’s sights.

Lion’s intended market was the High Street; its intended readers were outside the church. The sixties had modified the whole lot, and other people would turn into less and fewer accustomed to the Bible, as fewer schools taught Scripture. Lion would bring biblical truth to people through WH Smiths, Blackwells, Barnes and Noble, and the Readers’ Digest. Its titles would introduce readers to a Christian perspective on a spread of areas of life: cookery, fiction, history, art. All Lion books can be accessible to everyone, and jargon-free.  

In 1973 Tony joined the Alexanders in a single office above a freezer shop. His responsibilities then ranged from book production to international rights. As the catalogue grew, Tony became Lion’s International Director, specializing in the selling of rights, and, from 1979, was in a position to construct a small team around him. They travelled to the Americas, across Europe, to India, Africa and the Asia Pacific Rim.  

Colour printing was still latest, and expensive. Lion would harness latest printing technology, following the early adopters within the industry, by creating pages in such a way that partners all over the world could drop in translated text, using the identical page layout. This meant prime quality design might be shared.

The first major Lion project was the Lion Handbook to the Bible (1973). When US Publisher Bill Eerdmans saw its page proofs on the Frankfurt Book Fair, he ordered 50,000 copies on the strength of a handshake. The handbook — soon considered Lion’s landmark title — has now sold over three million copies, in 30 languages. 

The Lion Children’s Bible went into some 40 languages, including Mongolian (1997). The first church in Mongolia was planted in 1991, so this book became widely-used by Christian families, and introduced Bible knowledge more widely, into hundreds of homes. Within weeks of its launch, a letter from Ulan Bator declared it the best-selling book within the country, saying children were pleading with their parents to purchase it.  

Anthony Paul Wales was born to missionary parents within the Belgian Congo in 1944. The family returned to the UK when he was 10. He first wondered a couple of profession in journalism, but then switched to publishing, first joining Rupert Hart Davis, then Thames and Hudson.

In 1966, aged 22, he was appointed Production Manager at IVP, then spent three years as an Inter-Varsity Fellowship (now UCCF) Travelling Secretary, working with students in art colleges. 

While running a bookstall at a student conference at Swanwick he met Sue Lightfoot, a teacher in training from St Martin’s College, Lancaster, who would later turn into a researcher and lecturer in archaeology. They married in 1972.

To reach the widest possible audience, Lion partnered with mainstream publishers in addition to publishers from all Christian traditions. Titles have now been translated right into a total of some 200 languages, an A-Z from Adygei to Zulu. Lion became an affiliated member of the Publishers’ Association, the one Christian publisher to hitch this group; and Tony served on its International Committee for several years, participating in trade delegations to China and India with the chairs of Macmillan and Penguin.

He and David Alexander visited the Leipzig and Warsaw book fairs 10 years before the collapse of Communism. Lion opened its own office within the US, and Tony remained closely involved with the US market, as with the East Asian market.

Tony continued as Lion’s International Rights Director until he retired in 2008. His easy manner, ready humour, and modest demeanour won him friends and built trust as he visited countries. He himself read widely: biography, fiction, modern history, poetry, art.  

In the Nineteen Eighties, when Tony and Sue lived in West London, they became a part of the International Presbyterian Church, founded by L’Abri, where Tony served as an elder for several years before they moved to the Oxford area in 1993, to be closer to the Lion office.

In retirement, Tony worked with Media Associates International (MAI) to assist latest publishers in tough contexts, particularly in countries with a soft currency and low GDP. His early training in book production was invaluable for this.

He led by example in raising money for scholarships so more people could participate in MAI training conferences. As he quipped: he ‘put the fun back into fundraising’, by ironing neighbours’ clothes, after which with two friends walking 100 miles from Greenwich to Oxford (‘Three men of their boots’!). 

Tony served on the MAI European board for six years, and contributed to training materials. He was especially concerned that emerging publishers grasp the principles of monetary stability, contributing to the widely-used Profit & Purpose: A Global Publisher’s Guide for Financial Sustainability. His accrued knowledge and experience of worldwide publishing was perhaps unrivalled.

We thank God for Tony’s global influence. He will ‘shine like a star, as one who has led many to righteousness’ (Daniel 12:3).