Bill Text: VA HJR418 | 2020 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Celebrating the life of Mark Harril Saunders.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2020-03-05 - Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ418ER) [HJR418 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2020-HJR418-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, Mark Harril Saunders, director of the University of Virginia Press and a treasured member of the Charlottesville community, died on May 19, 2019; and
WHEREAS, Mark Saunders devoted his career to the production of high-quality books as both a publisher and an author and was a leader of the country's publishing industry through his work with the Association of University Presses; and
WHEREAS, Mark Saunders was named a Henry Hoyns Fellow in the University of Virginia's program in creative writing, from which he earned a master of fine arts degree in 1997; his novel, Ministers of Fire, was published in 2012 and received wide critical acclaim; and
WHEREAS, Mark Saunders served as director of the University of Virginia Press from 2013 until his death, supervising a staff of 20 and leading strategic planning, acquisitions, editorial, production, marketing, fiscal, and fundraising activities of the press; and
WHEREAS, having joined the University of Virginia Press in 1995, he helped to establish its Rotunda electronic imprint in 2001, which put the press at the forefront of innovation in digital scholarship; and
WHEREAS, Mark Saunders will be fondly remembered by his wife, Robin; his children, Binx, Ward, and Harry; his sister, Catherine; his stepsister, Caryn; and numerous other family members, friends, and others touched by his life of service; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of Mark Harril Saunders, director of the University of Virginia Press and a cherished member of the Charlottesville community; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Mark Harril Saunders as an expression of the General Assembly's respect for his memory.
