David Poindexter, founder of the San Francisco independent publishing house MacAdam Cage, died Monday after a bout with cancer.
While MacAdam Cage became known for publishing such acclaimed literary works as Audrey Niffenegger’s the Time Traveler’s Wife, The Contortionist’s Handbook by Craig Clevenger and Susan Vreeland’s Girl in Hyacinth Blue, sometime about 2009 the house was hit by both the economic downturn, a mounting series of financial problems and subsequent complaints of nonpayment by many of its authors. Over the next four years, Poindexter worked tirelessly to refinance the house and keep it in business, including changing its distribution arrangements, finding new investors and laying off virtually all of its staff.
By January 2012, Poindexter told PW he had paid off “80% of our debt and we’ll take care of the balance this year. Financing is in place to take care of the debt and to fund our publishing.” At that time, Poindexter told PW that the house had resolved major complaints with its writers, that Sonny Brewer had been named editor-in-chief of the house and he spoke of a new lean MacAdam Cage business model and plans to launch a new list.
However in December 2012 in response to queries form PW, Poindexter said he was negotiating to sell MacAdam Cage and acknowledged “there is a deal afoot, but nothing is decided yet,” and said he hoped to have something to report soon. According to published reports, Poindexter was diagnosed with cancer in early 2013.
