James Francis McGRATH

The American poet, academic and essayist Ross Gay once described a good bookstore as a laboratory for people coming together. If that is indeed the case, Jim McGrath, who has died aged 86, was an alchemist in a business suit.

As manager of the Monash University Bookshop for nearly twenty years, Jim helped countless people find their moments of escape or enlightenment. He used his prestigious knowledge to ensure the bookshop offered a vast range of stock which supplied all aspects of academic life and beyond.

Jim expertly built up a range of new scientific monographs, oversaw the arrival of new titles, and bought and installed a computerised stock system. In his role as manager, he was responsible for balancing the demands of teaching and study while running a commercially profitable business that saved customers money at the same time. Managing such conflicting requirements was a fine art.

Over-ordering was costly, whilst under-ordering caused the bookshop to fall short of its sales targets and service goals. His job was, he joked, a bit like running a pub in town, with thousands of ‘’addicted’’ readers to satisfy.

In a bid to keep prices down, he’d ‘’scrounge’’ bargains from publishers’ warehouses and overseas to sell at discount prices for nine months of the year.

His balancing act was recognised in 1999 when the bookshop was named winner of the prestigious DW Thorpe Tertiary Bookseller of the Year Award at the Australian Book Fair in Sydney.

Jim was first appointed manager in 1984. He immediately announced plans to make changes – predicting 40 per cent would be for the better, 25 per cent for the worse, with the remaining 35 per cent making ‘’no difference’’.

He used to say that he knew more about the business arithmetic of campus bookshops than everyone else in Australia combined. It was a lofty claim, but may well have been true. He gained the support and commitment of a large number of people due to his colourful and creative communication skills; not one to sanitise his language, he was never afraid to speak up and out with unvarnished honesty.

He worked closely with the chair of the bookshop board to provide briefings on problems and opportunities, and was responsible for getting the new Alfred Hospital bookshop up and running and then making it profitable. He bedded down GST and got the “frightfully messy’’ educational textbook subsidy running smoothly.

Jim actively engaged in the full life of the University, and was particularly involved in the committee who oversaw the operations of the Monash University Staff Club. He was an energetic and passionate supporter of the Club throughout his Monash career, and was elected President of the Staff Club between 1994 and 1999, and also appointed as an Honorary Life Member of the Club.

James Francis McGrath was born in March 1939. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne in 1961, and obtained a Diploma of Education at the same time. A Master of Arts followed in 1965, during which Jim embarked on a career as a secondary school history teacher (1962–1971).

A career switch saw him become the national educational book sales manager for Thomas Nelson (1973–1975). He was then the southern states sales manager for Prentice Hall of Australia, working his way up to become national marketing manager (1977–83). In 1982, he became assistant vice-president of Prentice Hall International – one of only two people outside the United States to hold the title.

A father of three, Jim retired in 2003. He was an active member of the Australian Chapter of the Crabtree Foundation (named in honour of the 19^th century literary British luminary poet and polymath Joseph Crabtree) having been introduced to it on his first morning as bookshop manager.

After attending as a guest of Maurie Butler (the University’s Acting Comptroller at the time) he became the Foundation’s Orator in 1992, determined to ‘’set the world ablaze’’ with his witty address. It was a long-standing tradition of each Chapter to meet annually in February on the anniversary of Crabtree’s birthday and present an oration on some hitherto undiscovered aspect of the poet’s career and genius. Jim’s offering, entitled ‘Erotic Influences on Crabtree’s Musical Contribution to the Chinese Pizza Industry’ was perceived as one of the funniest, and former Monash University Vice-Chancellor (and fellow Chapter member) Peter Darvall later used it as inspiration for his own oration. Whilst not an academic, McGrath boasted that his paper had the two qualities essential to serious academic writing: it was neither interesting nor intelligible to the layperson.

Jim was President of the Australian Chapter of the Crabtree Foundation in 1993 and 1994, and initially supported its move in 2009 from the University to the Melbourne Savage Club in Bank Place, only to find the place didn’t have the same je ne sais quoi that the University environment offered. He was its Living Witness 2024-25, this time conducting his business from afar.

Edited version of article published 11 June 1925 and in The Insider edition of 19 June 2025.