Scott McKinstry, a veteran bookseller who worked at a number of indies and served as a communications manager for the American Booksellers Association, died in Seattle on March 8. He was 60.

McKinstry's career as a bookseller included stints at Hatchards in London, England; the Tattered Cover in Denver; and Books of Wonder in New York City, where he worked before joining the ABA in the late 1990s. After relocating to Seattle in 2001, McKinstry worked at Elliott Bay Books and Third Place Books, before switching from bookselling to health care in 2017, working for the Seattle Children’s Hospital until his retirement in 2020.

According to an obituary drafted by his family, McKinstry was “a lifelong lover of books and passionate advocate of reading.”

Microcosm Press sales director Kalen Landow, who worked with McKinstry at Tattered Cover, described him as “an extraordinary bookseller,” adding in an email to PW: “Scott was one of the most remarkable (book) people I ever met. He was intuitive and had a gift for matching the right person (customer or colleague) with the right book in a way you don't always see.”

McKinstry was born in Kenmore, N.Y., in 1965 and graduated from the University of Northern Colorado and London's Central School of Speech and Drama with Fine Arts degrees in acting. He appeared in academic and professional stage productions in Buffalo, Denver, Seattle, London, and New York City and also cofounded the Mirror Players Shakespeare company in Denver.

McKinstry is survived by his wife, Beth McKinstry, and daughter, Nina McKinstry. His family urges those who knew McKinstry to watch one of his favorite films, such as The Godfather I and II; Truly, Madly, Deeply; Local Hero; Wings of Desire; and Bee Movie.
Booksellers and other readers are also urged to read books or plays by McKinstry’s favorite authors: William Shakespeare, Italo Calvino, Alberto Manguel, and David Markson.

Gifts in memory of McKinstry may be made to the ACLU, the Human Rights Campaign, or, his family says, "any organization that supports marginalized people or funds theatre education."

A celebration of life for McKinstry will be held at Folio: The Seattle Athenaeum on Saturday, April 19, at 6:30pm.