Arlene J. Cowan

The Distinguished Service Award for 2000 is presented to Arlene J. Cowan.

Arlene's dedication and talent have been important assets to Bookbuilders West (North and South) for more than 30 years, and her organizational skills, determination, and wit have moved many a committee along. Arlene's contributions to the early years of Southern California Bookbuilders in the 1970s and to BBW for the past 20 years are recognized with pleasure and appreciation.

Born and raised in New York (who would have guessed?), Arlene started her career there in advertising print production on such accounts as Coca-Cola and Revlon. After a dozen or so years, she came to the west coast, continuing her advertising career with Kenyon & Eckhart and then with McCann-Erickson. She then migrated to the world of textbook publishing by joining Glencoe Press, a division of The Macmillan Company. There she met Curt Cowan - they married and left the corporate world for the heady drama of entrepreneurial optimism and the stark realities of running a small business. This led to a brief partnership in a multimedia venture, during which Arlene was introduced to type by setting math on an IBM stand-alone composer. Subsequently, she and Curt started a project management, book design, and production service that continues today. Over the years Arlene has worked her way through dedicated equipment, such as Compugraphic and Alphatype, to typesetting on the Macintosh. The Cowans have produced hundreds of books, including trade, college, and el-hi.

Arlene's involvement with Bookbuilders West began when she was at Macmillan. In 1971, when Southern California publishers and suppliers organized as Southern California Bookbuilders, patterned after BBW, Arlene joined the group and almost immediately took on responsibilities, serving as Secretary and then Treasurer until 1976. Arlene remained active after relocating to Coarsegold, California in 1978, but her move back to the Bay Area in 1986 brought her full circle to her Bookbuilders' roots. Since her election to the Board in 1990, she has been Secretary for 7 years, Vice President in 1996-97, and President in 1997-98.

Arlene has been very active on the Crash Course in Production Committee for more than 10 years, including being a presenter at the 1985, 1988, and 1989 Crash Courses. She also initiated the revival of the Crash Course in southern California, the first in 15 years. She has worked on the Newsletter Committee for the last 10 years, and she has been active on the Scholarship and Education Committees. In 1996 she chaired the Electronic Publishing Update, a day-long event with speakers from the many avenues into which "desktop publishing" has spread.

As Vice President, Arlene attended a meeting of all Bookbuilders organizations from the west, midwest, and east held in New York City to share and exchange ideas for growth and improving Bookbuilders organizations in general. While President, she traveled to southern California to attend BBW-South's bimonthly meetings and chaired the Southern California BBW committee, encouraging the group to conduct more regular meetings and become more active. Over the years, she composed many BBW announcements, fliers, and the Book Show Catalog. Arlene has been on the Book Show Committee numerous times, and she served as a Book Show judge in 1994.

Thanks, Arlene, for your contributions to so many areas within BBW. Your vision has enhanced the Crash Course and strengthened BBW-South, and your skeptical yet professional outlook has always improved our efforts - and made committee work enjoyable. You personify the super-volunteer who has made BBW great! Congratulations!