Malcolm Clarkson was an influential figure in the world of education publishing where he single-handedly set up his own publishing house and created a long list which was the envy of long-established houses. For 25 years he battled with fortitude and courage against Parkinson’s disease, always retaining his sense of humour and mental agility.

Characteristically he remarked that the moment he decided to retire was when an elderly lady got up to give him her seat on a crowded railway station.

Malcolm Clarkson was born in 1932 in Birkenhead. Very much an urban child of working-class parents he was evacuated in wartime to a remote part of the Yorkshire Dales, and afterwards went to Park High Grammar School in Birkenhead, then to Birmingham University to read geography and finally to King’s College London where he took a postgraduate certificate in education.

He taught various subjects including history, geography and Latin in a range of schools in Britain and Tasmania. Then, in 1967 he joined Brighton College of Education as a lecturer and in 1974 became academic registrar. After the merger with Brighton Polytechnic in 1976 he was appointed head of primary education and was later offered the post of dean of the faculty of education.

The mid-1970s was a difficult time for educational publishing. He was searching without success for a publisher for his own book on teacher education. It was just at this juncture that he presciently (or rashly) decided to establish Falmer Press, as he said, to “engage in the ultimate act of vanity by publishing his own work”.

Still working full-time at Brighton Polytechnic he began in a small way. Instead of publishing traditional-style books from established authors he looked for young academics with original ideas (often on unusual topics) who were eager to establish their careers by writing about new developments for researchers, teachers and students. He was soon publishing 50 or more specialist volumes a year.

Clarkson was a bon vivant with a fine taste in wine and food who always insisted on meeting, and often dining with, potential authors before deciding whether to publish. Towards the end of a long and memorable meal he mentioned to one of his authors that he had been offered the post of dean of faculty and he was wondering whether he could take on that onerous role in addition to his publishing. His author challenged him: “Do you want to become one of numerous deans of faculty or the managing director of a major educational publishing house?” A couple of days later he had resigned from the polytechnic and became a full-time publisher — to the initial consternation and, later, delight of his dining companion.

With Malcolm Clarkson publishing was not only exciting and fun but was also an enterprise that demanded the highest standards: well-designed books, good-quality paper and attractive dust jackets as well as good ideas between the covers. In Britain, the US and Australia he established a wide network of authors.

His presentations at promotional events at international conferences were eagerly awaited as he specialised in friendly “insults” about the foibles of academics which were always perceptive and uncomfortably close to the bone.

He also infused his daughter with his love of publishing; she is now editorial director of Routledge Education books. One of the things that he most valued was his honorary doctorate from the University of Warwick.

Clarkson lived a full life, not only as teacher and publisher but also as director and lead actor in his local amateur dramatics company and as a house renovator in his beloved Dordogne.

He is survived by his wife, Peggy, and by his son and his daughter.

Malcolm Clarkson, educational publisher, was born on December 3, 1932. He died on July 1, 2008, aged 75