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Stackpole Books acquired by Maryland-based Rowman & Littlefield

Midstate publishing house known for military, outdoors titles

Roger DuPuis//December 23, 2015//

Stackpole Books acquired by Maryland-based Rowman & Littlefield

Midstate publishing house known for military, outdoors titles

Roger DuPuis//December 23, 2015//

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Stackpole, a Lower Allen Township-based publisher of outdoors, sports, history and regional books, has been acquired by Maryland-based Rowman & Littlefield, which specializes in academic, educational and government publications.

The purchase price was not disclosed.

Longtime publisher Judith Schnell will continue in that capacity, Rowman & Littlefield announced, while Stackpole will operate under Globe Pequot, the company’s trade publishing division.

Customer orders will continue to be processed in Stackpole’s local warehouse until the end of April, when all order processing and order fulfillment will be moved to Rowman & Littlefield’s National Book Network distribution center in Washington Township, Franklin County.

The transition comes more than a year after president and board chairman M. David Detweiler IV, the fourth generation of his family to lead the company, died at the age of 67.

“In Rowman & Littlefield, we have found a publisher that can operate Stackpole in the way (Detweiler) did, with respect for our eight decades of traditions and innovations,” said Stackpole board chairman John Granatino.

“We look forward to this next chapter for the Stackpole imprint,” Granatino added.

History, tradition

Stackpole’s roots stretch back well over a century, with family involvement in Harrisburg’s newspaper industry.

In 1930, decorated World War I veteran E.J. Stackpole Jr. and his brother, Albert Stackpole, founded Stackpole Sons, according to a company release. With offices on Cameron Street in Harrisburg and in Manhattan, the firm would count among its titles fiction by Damon Runyon and autobiographies by Benny Goodman and Huey Long.

In 1959, Stackpole Books was born from the merger of Stackpole Sons and Military Service Publishing Co., which had been previously acquired by E.J. Stackpole Sr.

The merged company would come to be known for its military-related titles, including the best-selling “Army Officer’s Guide,” which is now on its 53rd edition and eight decades in print.

Stackpole also is known for its nature series and angling titles. Ninety new titles are published annually and the company has a backlist of about 1,000 titles.

Detweiler, grandson of  E.J. Stackpole Jr., was a Yale graduate who had been a successful journalist before joining the family business in 1981. According to Detweiler’s obituary, he became president in 1989, and was named chairman of the board in 1998, roles he held for the rest of his life as the fourth generation of his family to lead the company.

Detweiler also was an author, whose works included “Gettysburg: The Story of the Battle with Maps,” with co-editor David Reisch.

Rowman & Littlefield

Rowman & Littlefield, based in Lanham, Md., is one of the largest independent book publishers in North America, with an international presence in the United Kingdom.

The company publishes approximately 2,000 new books each year, along with electronic editions, focusing on academic publishing in the humanities and social sciences, government and official data, educational publishing for K-12 and trade publishing under Globe Pequot.

Globe Pequot specializes in regional interest, history, lifestyle, cooking and food culture, and folklore. One of its existing imprints, Lyons Press, specializes in some of Stackpole’s niches: American and military history, sports, hunting, fishing, nature and pets.

“Stackpole is a storied publisher with an enthusiast publishing program that perfectly complements Globe Pequot’s unique market position,” Globe Pequot Publisher Jim Childs said.

“The resulting combination gives Globe Pequot, Lyons Press, and Stackpole a dominant market position across several genres, most notably the outdoor, fly fishing and military history categories,” Childs added.