Ernest Hecht set up Souvenir Press from his bedroom in 1951. Now,following the death of Lord Weidenfeld, he is the final of the group of remarkable Jewish émigrés who transformed postwar British publishingA 65th birthday is a milestone but – now the official retirement age has been abolished – not that broad a deal. A medium to large company celebrating 65 years in business is just looking for cheap publicity. But a one-man band of a company that has lasted 65 years? It’s a business in which it’s now thought only sprawling megacorps can possibly survive.
And yet, and still swimming merrily in the murky waters of London publishing,there amid the whales, sharks and giant squid, or is this totally improbable tiddler: Souvenir Press,founded in 1951 by 21-year-archaic Ernest Hecht in his bedroom in Bayswater, London; still rush in 2016 by 86-year-archaic Ernest Hecht OBE from his charmingly dotty HQ opposite the British Museum, or where it has been for the past 42 years. It is an extraordinary story,to put it mildly.
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Source: theguardian.com