D.C. Kizhakkemuri, who passed away in the last week of January 1999, had often been hailed as the 'Megastar of Malayalam publishing.' The sobriquet suited him like the proverbial glove, for it was he who stabilised the weakening book industry in Kerala, added 'gold and gift' to its brick foundation and built it up as a burly edifice. One of the founding fathers of Sahitya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society (SPCS), he was at the helm during its heyday. On retirement , he started D.C. Books in 1975 which has brought out an incredible 3,300 titles till date. D.C., as he was popularly known, loved books, breathed books and lived them.

But not by books alone did D.C. flourish and win fame. His was a multifaceted personality. Freedom fighter, columnist, speaker, humorist and cultural activist - he was all this and much more. Active and alert to the last, his was a voice of wit and wisdom crystallised through decades of dedicated work on several fronts. He was honoured with 'Padma Bhushan' this year.

Born at Kanjirappally in Kottayam district in 1914, Dominic Chacko was drawn to the delightful world of letters in the company of K.J. Thomas, his long-term friend. They started the Sahridaya Grandhasala which subsequently grew into one of the leading libraries in Kerala. He had been a school teacher for 12 years before plunging into the Freedom struggle. He was imprisoned and as a consequence it enabled him to 'rub wings and beaks' as a jailbird with such 'stormy petrels' such as C. Kesavan, Kumbalathu Sanku Pillai and P.T. Chacko.

It was however as a publisher that D.C. proved his prodigious prowess. The experience he had gained from his long association with SPCS and its sales wing, the National Book Stall (NBS), stood him in good stead as he started his own publishing with a paltry sum of Rs. 7,500. That the annual turnover of DC Books exceeds a whopping Rs. 10 crores testifies his insight, imagination and ingenuity in no uncertain terms. Using innovative schemes to rope in genuine readers and employing the latest techniques in typeset, lay-out, design, printing and binding, and with an unerring eye for the quality of content, the books that have rolled out from 'D.C.' are things of beauty, dear to behold and dearer to consume and conserve.

Polite in manners and pragmatic in his dealings, he could win over the writing fraternity in such a measure that a list of his publications would head like a catalogue of the finest books in every branch of literature from mythology to modern criticism and from linguistics to logistics. And every writer young or old, deems it a privilege to see his or her work brought out in all elegance by D.C.

A stickler for promptness he was always punctual, be it at a small get together or large gathering. Immensely fond of learning and travelling he did both with tireless acumen. A teetotaler he was self-professed and passionate preacher against smoking and the bottle. In the vanguard of the library movement, he was the vice-president of the State Library Council. He was the president of the Freedom Fighters Association and the Book Publishers Association of Kerala. Recipient of several accolades he was recently accorded the 'Swadeshabhimani Puraskaram' for 1998.

D.C. had all the while maintained the maxim 'Work is Worship' with missionary zeal. and that was precisely the secret behind his phenomenal success in all chosen spheres of activity.