Abstract:
John F. Blair founded John F. Blair, Publisher in Winston-Salem, in 1954, with a primary focus on books about North Carolina. When Blair died in 1986, Carolyn Sakowski had been with the company for nine months. She and a colleague approached the heirs with a plan to keep the publishing company running. John F. Blair, Publisher, repositioned itself with a focus on books from and about the Southeast. Sakowski has been company president since 1992. In 2003, the company had sales of more than $1 million and will soon publish its 400th title.