Obituary: Bob Hugo, Spirit of '76 Bookstore Founder

Bob Hugo, founder of four bookstores under the HugoBooks umbrella, died on July 27 of heart complications. He was 72.

Hugo opened the Spirit of '76 Bookstore in Marblehead, Mass., in 1965. After years of expansion, he acquired a second store, Newburyport's the Book Rack, in 1988. The Andover bookstore in Andover, Mass., followed in 1992, and HugoBooks opened a fourth store in Swampscott, Mass., in 2011.

Bookselling runs in the Hugo family; Hugo's brother, David, founded the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore on Martha's Vineyard, and Hugo's son, John, has worked with his father at HugoBooks for the past 13 years.

Hugo is survived by his wife, Kathe, his son, John, and his grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Marblehead, Mass., on September 9.