More than 40 authors have joined as one voice to call for former editor-in-chief Clair Willcox to be reinstated at the University of Missouri Press.
Willcox was laid off in July after the Board of Curators approved UM President Tim Wolfe’s decision to close the press. MU announced in a [news release](http://munews.missouri.edu/news-releases/2012/0828-um-president-mu-chancellor-call-for-nominations-for-university-of-missouri-press-advisory-committee/) last week that the press will remain open and responsibility will be transferred to MU.
A letter sent to Wolfe on Wednesday from the authors asked Wolfe to return their publication rights to more than 90 titles because the editorial staff they had worked with was gone.
“The authors who signed this letter have given the editorial staff of the Press a strong vote of confidence, and I am very grateful for their endorsement,” Willcox said in an email. “The obvious question is why that editorial staff is now gone.”
UM Press managing editor Sara Davis turned down an invitation to stay at the press last week, Willcox said. The final editorial staff member is acquisitions editor John Brenner, and his last day at the press will be today. Brenner also declined an invitation to stay.
“Today we are writing to ask that for the sake of the University and the Press, you reinstate Clair Willcox, the editor-in-chief you released on July 26 because the press was closing,” the letter said. “Now that the Press will remain open, there is no reason to lay him off and in face we believe you will need him now more than ever.”
Florida State University professor Ned Stuckey-French helped draft the letter and is one of the authors who have requested publication rights from the press. Stuckey-French said as of Thursday, he had yet to hear an answer on whether his rights will be returned.
“We have had our trust broken, and we want a statement from Missouri that this nonsense is over,” Stuckey-French said. “Only bringing Clair back can do that.”
If Willcox is not brought back and authors are not given a definite answer about their rights, Stuckey-French said the next step for the group of authors is to sue. He said it was time for Wolfe and Chancellor Brady Deaton to stop delegating, work out a compromise and bring Willcox back.
“We’ve contacted a lawyer because they have destroyed the press we signed contracts with,” Stuckey-French said. “We don’t want to sue, but if it comes to that, we will and it will get ugly.”
There has been no talk of rehiring Willcox from MU. An advisory committee is in the process of being selected to oversee the transition, and Dwight Browne will continue to serve as interim director. When contacted, Browne said he had no comment on Willcox’s position.
Bruce Miller, president of Miller Trade Book Marketing Inc., said to keep the press open, but not say a word about Willcox was a complete contradiction. Miller has been vocal on the [Save the University of Missouri Press Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/SaveTheUniversityOfMissouriPress) page, which more than 2,800 people have liked.
“Willcox is the press,” Miller said. “He’s been there for over 20 years and he’s built it, forged relationships that take a lifetime to build and he’s good at what he does.”
Lois Huneycutt, director of graduate studies in the Department of History, said she has taken special interested in the press issue, as more than half of the titles published are history titles.
“If (administrators) set out to handle this situation badly, they couldn’t have done it worse,” Huneycutt said. “If they bring Clair back it will save the university time, litigation and put them in a better light because they’re doing the right thing.”
Even if Willcox is brought back as editor-in-chief, Miller said it could take years to build the press back up to its former level.
“A house takes a long time to build, but you can burn it down in hours,” Miller said. “The press has been burned down, and now we need Willcox to build it again.”