James Patterson Awards $500 Bonuses to Bay Area Booksellers

Six hundred booksellers at independent bookstores — from the Strand in New York to City Lights in San Francisco — will receive $500 holiday bonuses from author James Patterson. Among the recipients are employees at 21 Bay Area bookstores.

The awardees were nominated by store owners, customers, managers, peers, community members and others.

“Booksellers save lives. Period,” Patterson said in a statement released Tuesday through his publisher, Little, Brown and Company. “I’m happy to be able to acknowledge them and all their hard work this holiday season.”

One of the world’s most popular and prolific writers, Patterson has given millions of dollars to booksellers, librarians and teachers. In October, he awarded $200 bonuses to over 200 librarians and library workers, including three from the Bay Area: Andrew Carlos of Santa Clara University, Elizabeth Snow of Sequoia High School in Redwood City, and Celina Tirona of John Daly Public Library in Daly City.

Patterson has even co-authored a tribute book, The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians, which Little, Brown and Company released in April.

“We appreciate Mr. Patterson’s financial generosity as well as his generosity of spirit. We all continue to be awed by, and grateful for, Mr. Patterson’s continuing support of independent booksellers,” Allison Hill, CEO of the American Booksellers Association, said in a statement. “It means everything to have him recognize and reward the valuable role booksellers play in the industry.”

Along with his gifts to booksellers, Patterson has given millions of dollars to schools, libraries and literacy programs. In 2015, the National Book Foundation presented him an honorary National Book Award — the Literarian Award — for “outstanding service to the American literary community.”

A full list of the Bay Area recipients is below.

Sarah Hines Stephens, Oakland, CA, A Great Good Place for Books
Karen Finlay, Vallejo, CA, Alibi Bookshop
Zack Dubuc, Corte Madera, CA, Book Passage
Ingrid Nystrom, San Leandro, CA, Books Inc.
Jessica Hahl, San Leandro, CA, Books Inc.
Renee Rettig, Hayward, CA, Books on B
Cinda Meister, Morgan Hill, CA, BookSmart
Ken Samuels, San Francisco, CA, Browser Books
Carla Castillo, San Francisco, CA, Compass Books
Sophia Rimkeit, Petaluma, CA, Copperfield’s Books
Brad Johnson, Oakland, CA, East Bay Booksellers
Benjy Caplan, San Francisco, CA, Green Apple Books
Marilyn Smith, Menlo Park, CA, Kepler’s Books
Alexander Papoulias, Menlo Park, CA, Kepler’s Books
Clare Doornbos, Berkeley, CA, Mr. Mopps’ Children’s Books
Jennifer Gordon, Berkeley, CA, Mrs. Dalloway’s
Lee Spangler, Napa, CA, Napa Bookmine
Jude Sales, Sonoma, CA, Readers’ Books
Stacie Willoughby, Oakland, CA, Spectator Books
Gabriela Melendez, San Carlos, CA, The Reading Bug
Ross Lockhart, Petaluma, CA, Word Horde

Gabe Meline contributed reporting.
An earlier version of this story listed the 2023 winners.