Book retail legend dead

TN Shanbhag, founder of the Strand Book Stall, died on February 27. He was 61.
Shanbag started Strand book stall, or really a kiosk, in 1948 in what was then Strand Cinema in Bombay. A pioneer almost in the trade, his stall soon acquired a name for itself.
This was followed by a number of celebrities becoming to the stall, which grew in and stature.
He is the only retailer to have been awarded the Padma Shri for selling books!