René Albert Patron

October 13, 1940 - February 20, 2025 In Loving Memory of René Patron
The happiness of our memories of René Patron balances our profound sorrow on his passing.
We mark his death on February 20, 2025, as a great personal loss to our family in the United States and in France; to his many dear friends; and to the community of antiquarian book lovers, scholars, and master artisans dedicated to the preservation and conservation of books, who understood and appreciated his skills of aesthetic judgment and the artistic execution of his bindings and conservation work.
The oldest of three children of Albert George Patron and Suzanne Cuperly, René was born October 13th, 1940 in Soissons, Aisne, France. He recalled fondly the time he spent with his maternal grandparents in the countryside. After high scholastic recognition for his writing, he became the self-described "shyest reporter in Paris," but ultimately expressed his art in the binding of books, rather than writing them.
On the invitation of friends, now family, a youthful René left Paris for Los Angeles and while living in an apartment in Venice Beach courted and married the love of his life, librarian and author, Susan Patron (d.2023). Ultimately, they settled in the Hollywood Hills, where René established his book restoration atelier.
René described his life's work to an LA Times interviewer in 1996: "(I do)...a kind of work that has been done the same way for years and years. The point of what I do is to give an idea of the book as it was."
Indeed, his work went far beyond giving an idea of the book as it was. His modesty was legendary. Despite the extraordinary number of volumes housed in UCLA special collections and other institutions, all touched and transformed by his hands over a 50-year career, few bear any signature or mark. Those few that do, carry small gilt signs, always at the request of the client, and usually as a shared inside joke.
His humor was wry, and the often playful choices he made in his creative transformations of books belied his serious and absolute mastery of the art of bookbinding. The depth and breadth of his list of clients acknowledges his skill, but the thrill of the client/reader at experiencing a book transformed, on return from René's shop, proves his status as an artist; he was a master whose work initiates dialogue with the viewer. As David Zeidberg, of the Huntington Library, explained to the LA Times in 1996, with "subtle excitement:" "'The book (published in 1542) was completely in tatters…He's completely rebound it…The covers are the new part. It really looks like new!'"
René's particular skill at making book-boxes and slipcases (often tromp l'oeils for the books themselves) serves as an apt metaphor for the beautiful home he and Susan created together; a carefully curated container for two lives centered on joyful exchange of ideas, and a love generous enough to welcome their many friends and assorted orphans.
In addition to their time together at home in the Hollywood Hills, René described his very happiest moments as those spent with Susan in their second home in a small community near Death Valley, California. A celebration of their lives, and their deep connection with this place, is planned for later this year.