Our Staff  

JILL DEISS, BOOKBINDER, is the founder of Cat Tail Run Hand Bookbinding. She studied bookbinding and restoration first in Northampton, Massachusetts, then at Cornell University's Department of Library Conservation, and in the Smithsonian Institution's Conservation Laboratories. Mrs. Deiss holds a B.S. in Chemistry and received a Master of Library Science degree from Syracuse University where she specialized in the study of archives and rare book collections.

WILLIAM A. DEISS, TYPESETTER AND PAPER REPAIR SPECIALIST, also lends his skills as the bookkeeper and records manager for the company. Mr. Deiss is an archivist retired from the Smithsonian Institution Archives and completed graduate work in history at Washington University in St. Louis. He is the co-editor of New Animals, New Worlds: From Menagerie to Zoological Park in the Nineteenth Century (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996).

DEE EVETTS, ASSISTANT BOOKBINDER, works in making new bindings--single copies through small editions--and protective boxes. He also regularly contributes to restoration projects such as preparing the plates for resewing in the Catesby Natural History volumes, in addition to similar work in conserving historic county records volumes. Mr. Evetts was born in England and read English Literature at Cambridge University, later becoming a student and teacher of oriental languages. He has 25 years experience as a cabinetmaker and designer. Mr. Evetts has three published books of poetry: A Small Ceremony (From Here Press, 1988), endgrain (Red Moon Press, 1997), and Home after Dark (Kings Road Press, 2002) and is a former secretary of the Haiku Society of America.

SUSAN MCCABE, BINDERY ASSISTANT, is in charge of preparing books either for new bindings or for the restoration process. In addition to her work at the bookbindery, Ms. McCabe operates her own genealogical research company established in 2002. She is an adjunct professor at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia, teaching courses in genealogical research and is the co-author of Index to Burials in Frederick County, Virginia. Ms. McCabe serves on the board for the archives of The Handley Regional Library and is a charter member and Vice President of the Shenandoah Valley Genealogical Society.