It is with great sadness that we share that President & CEO Emeritus Noah Genner passed away on Tuesday, August 27, 2024. Noah leaves behind his perfect match, life partner, and best friend, Annette Synowiec, and their beloved dogs, Murphy and Malina. A loyal son, brother, uncle, and friend, Noah will be deeply missed by his brothers Ari (Rhonda) and Devin (Alyssa), his stepfather Peter (Nancy), his nieces and nephews, and his close-knit circle of friends. His friends and colleagues at BookNet Canada are deeply impacted by his absence and join his family in mourning.
Thirty-seven years after he first entered the industry, when he took on a bookselling job working for BookShelf Cafe in Guelph, Ontario, Noah’s impact on the Canadian publishing industry cannot be overstated. At the BookShelf cinema he became Canada's youngest licensed projectionist and later led the supply chain side of the store’s web presence: Canada's first online bookstore. Following his studies at the University of Guelph and successful leadership roles at Project Canoe and Compusense Inc., his enduring love of books and technology led him back to the publishing industry and to the newly-founded nonprofit BookNet Canada. Noah joined BookNet April 1, 2004 and was appointed as President & CEO in June 2009. Over his twenty-plus years with BookNet, Noah led the launches of nearly all of BookNet’s marquee projects, including SalesData, CataList, and BiblioShare. His personal love of fantasy baseball inspired the launch of PubFight, an annual fantasy publishing game that tested participants' ability to manage stock against real-world book sales — and was a cult favourite. Noah’s publishing industry contributions were not limited to Canada. In 2016, he won the Book Industry Study Group’s Most Valuable Volunteer award and in 2020 he co-founded the Green Book Alliance with the Book Industry Study Group (US) and Book Industry Communication (UK). His relentless dedication, positive attitude, and innovative mind will leave a lasting legacy.
Noah’s leadership at BookNet was characterized by instincts to collaborate, empower, and better the company’s people, products, and services. He was transparent, approachable, and, more than anything, deeply kind. He inspired greatness among our colleagues and his friendship and mentorship over many years will offer comforting memories and inspiration as we continue to serve. Noah cared for the industry and the people in it; indeed it was his life’s work.
Colleagues, friends, and peers may offer messages of tribute for the family at www.aftercare.org/obituaries/Noah-Genner. Cards and letters may be sent to the family c/o BookNet Canada, #440-455 Danforth Avenue, Toronto, ON, M4K 1P1.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to Toronto Mount Sinai Hospital and/or the Canadian Cancer Society would be appreciated.
All are invited to a Celebration of Life, to be held at the University of Guelph Arboretum the afternoon of October 27, 2024. Companies and individuals are encouraged to RSVP to rsvp@booknetcanada.ca to aid the family in planning. This post will be updated with more information when it becomes available.
