This poem was composed by Alexander McCall Smith in memory of Stephanie Wolfe Murray, Publisher and Founder of Canongate Books. It was read out by him at a tribute held in August 2017 at the Edinburgh Book Festival:

A maker of beautiful books
In memory of Stephanie Wolfe Murray, publisher.

A maker of beautiful books
Knows exactly what it is that makes¬¬¬
Paper, card, printer’s ink,
The raw words of the writer
Into that lovely object
We call a book; understands
The subtle work of fonts,
Of leading, of bindings,
That makes a book something
We wish to hold to ourselves,
To keep and cherish, to read
At times when the soul is in need
Of solace, of insight, and art
That can transform the quotidian
Into the transcendent.

A maker of beautiful books
Understands that text
Should whisper to us its message
Like a confiding friend,
Not in the trumpet tones
Of the strident, the polemical,
But gently, tactfully,
In private places of exchange
Where the loud and the angry
Have no wish to linger.

A maker of beautiful books
Brings people together
In civil and gracious converse,
Helps the puzzled and confused
To understand what it is
That puzzles or confuses them;
Puts an end to that ignorance
On which evil parasitically
Thrives; shows the weak
The way to strength, brings
Freedom to the most remote corners,
Reminds us of love
And it manifold works.

A maker of beautiful books
Lies in a Borders field
With all the hills as watchmen;
But the books she made
Live on, resolute upon their shelves
In a hundred far-flung places,
Their maker’s advocates, her legacy,
Her sure and beautiful touch
Upon our troubled world,
Less troubled for her presence,
Surer, for her example,
Of the possibilities of truth and beauty.

Alexander McCall Smith, August 2017