NEW YORK (AP) - February 12, 2008
"I am incredibly pleased and honored to have Richard Ford on
the Ecco list," Ecco publisher Daniel Halpern said Tuesday in a
statement. "I have read his work for more than 30 years and
believe he's as fine a writer as we have in this country. If I had
been asked which writer I'd like most to have at Ecco, Richard Ford
would be at the top of that list."
Ford, who turns 64 on Saturday, is best known for his trilogy of
novels about ex-sportswriter Frank Bascombe: "The Sportswriter,"
the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Independence Day" and "The Lay of
the Land." He has agreed to a three-book deal with Ecco, including
two novels and a collection of short stories.
Ford's literary agent, Amanda Urban, said that Ford had a "long
and very rewarding relationship with Knopf, but that, regrettably,
we couldn't come to terms." Ford, reached by The Associated Press
at his home in Maine, declined comment, except to say that his
years at Knopf had been "wonderful." Knopf's director of
publicity, Paul Bogaards, said that it was Ford's decision to
leave.
"If the publishing association has been a good one, a long and
fruitful one, the decision to leave is never an easy one to make,"
Bogaards said.
"Richard is one of the most significant writers of our
generation. He has a lot of friends here and everyone wishes him
well. I think in a situation like this, he considered his options
very carefully."
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