Richard Cook (1957 – 2007) was a prolific music writer, author of the Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD and biographies of Miles Davis and others. His history of the landmark jazz label Blue Note was smart, stylish, and unique, and I jumped at the chance to publish it in the U.S. with my then-new press Justin, Charles & Co. We held the book at the printer until the night of the Grammy Awards in order to find out whether Blue Note artist Norah Jones would win Album of the Year for "Come Away With Me." She did, and we added it to the book, then made a deal with the Blue Note label for some modest cross promotion that helped propel this truly marvelous book.