Roy B. Zuck, a noted scholar and author, died March 16. He was 81.

Author of more than 40 books, Zuck was senior professor emeritus of Bible Exposition at Dallas Theological Seminary and editor of the school's journal, Bibliotecha Sacra.

"Dr. Zuck was a great scholar," Kregel Publications Managing Editor Steve Barclift said. "I will miss lively conversations with him about his latest book idea, as well as his passion for prayer and the Word of God."

Zuck wrote eight books with Kregel, including The Speaker's Quote Book and Rightly Divided: Readings in Biblical Hermeneutics. His other books include A Biblical Theology of the New Testament and A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament (both Moody Publishers).

Dennis Hillman, publisher of Kregel Publications, said Zuck was one of his professors at Dallas Seminary in the late 1970s, and one of the first authors he acquired for Kregel in the early 1990s.

"In both roles, Dr. Zuck's kind spirit, Christian character and enthusiasm for the Word and for the printed word were uniquely combined," Hillman said. "On behalf of the entire Kregel family, we extend condolences to his loved ones."

Zuck was married for 54 years to his wife, Dottie, who died in September 2008. He is survived by his son, Kenneth; daughter, Barbara Hanes; six grandchildren; and two great-grandsons.

Finalists have been announced in the 2013 Christian Retailing’s Best awards sponsored by Christian Retailing magazine.

Baker Publishing Group, with its various divisions, took 15 finalists spots, and B&H Publishing Group claimed 14. HarperCollins Christian Publishing weighed in with 22 finalists, combining Zondervan with 12 and Thomas Nelson with 10.

Those who qualified to vote in the awards this year were asked to judge the nominations on their impact, including their ability to speak to people’s hearts and evoke emotion; open people’s minds to new ways of thinking; and encourage and affirm Christ-like living.

Winners of the Christian Retailing’s Best awards—formerly known as the Retailers Choice Awards—will be presented at the International Christian Retail Show in St. Louis in June. To stay informed of the date of the presentation and the latest awards happenings, click here to sign up for our twice-weekly e-newsletter, Christian Retailing Update.

Introduced in 2001, the awards sponsored by Christian Retailing have been increasingly acknowledged as an important way of recognizing some of the most significant new life-changing products in the Christian retail industry.

For a complete list of the 2013 finalists, go to www.christianretailingsbest.com. 

Rick and Kay Warren are mourning the tragic death on Friday, April 5, of their youngest son, Matthew, 27.

"Only those closest knew that he [Matthew] struggled from birth with mental illness, dark holes of depression and even suicidal thoughts," Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., and best-selling author of The Purpose Driven Life (Zondervan), wrote in an email to his staff.

"In spite of America's best doctors, meds, counselors and prayers for healing, the torture of mental illness never subsided," he added. "After a fun evening together with Kay and me, in a momentary wave of despair at his home, he took his life. ... We need your prayer for us. No words can express the anguished grief we feel right now."

Prayers and condolences are flooding into Warren's Facebook page.

"I too have had a son die, so I have a sense of the pain Rick and Kay are facing," said

Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif. "But their circumstances are different and my heart goes out to them. At times like these, there really are no words, but there is the Word. There is no manual, but there is Emmanuel. God is with us."

Zondervan has published books by the Warrens and other family members for nearly 20 years.

"In this dark moment, we pray that Rick, Kay, their family and the congregation of Saddleback will each experience the assurance and comfort of Psalm 23:4, 'Even though I walk through the darkest valley ... you are with me,' " said Stan Gundry, Zondervan's senior vice president and editor in chief.

Mark Schoenwald, president and CEO of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Zondervan's parent company, added: "We are all grieving for their loss and cannot imagine their pain. Rick and Kay have taught so many about the redeeming power of Jesus and in that, we pray their family will find peace."

Bill Nielsen, chief operating officer of Berean Christian Stores, told Christian Retailing that he has urged the chain in intercessory prayer for the Warrens.

"We have already asked the entire Berean family to be in prayer for the Warren family and for Rick's ongoing ministry," he said. "I have also reach out to all of my blog followers on christianretailmusings.blogspot.com and asked them to be in prayer as well."

Tyndale House Publishers has been honored with four sales awards from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). The publisher received a Diamond Award for sales of more than 15 million for More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell. Tyndale also garnered two Platinum Awards for sales of more than 1 million copies for

The Life Recovery Bible by Stephen Arterburn and David A. Stoop (more than 2 million sold) and The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven by Kevin and Alex Malarkey (more than 1 million sold). Additionally, a Gold Award went to Uncommon by Tony Dungy and Nathan Whitaker for sales of more than 500,000 copies via all retail channels.

Earlier this year, ECPA also recognized God's Inspirational Promises (Thomas Nelson) by Max Lucado; Every Man's Battle by Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker with Mike Yorkey (WaterBrook Press); Radical by David Platt (Multnomah Books); and A Lineage of Grace by Francine Rivers (Tyndale House) with Platinum awards.

Gold awards went to Every Day a Friday by Joel Osteen (FaithWords); How to Hear From God by Joyce Meyer (FaithWords); The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn (FrontLine/Charisma House Book Group); Heaven Is for Real for Kids by Todd and Sonja Burpo; and One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp (Zondervan), among others.

The year's recipients of the Gold, Platinum and Diamond (more than 10 million copies in sales) awards will be honored at the ECPA Awards Banquet, to be held April 29 during the association's Leadership Summit at Ingram Publisher Services' headquarters outside of Nashville.

Click here for a complete list of ECPA Diamond, Platinum and Gold Award recipients. 

Beverly Lewis' The Guardian, the third title in her "Home to Hickory Hollow" series (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group) debuted at No. 2 on the Fiction best-sellers and at No. 8 on the General best-sellers from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA), tracking sales for the week ending March 30, according to Pubtrack Christian data. The novel was released March 26.

The Top 20 General best-sellers were: 1. Jesus Calling, Sarah Young, hardcover (Thomas Nelson); 2. Heaven Is for Real, Todd Burpo (Thomas Nelson); 3. The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson (Zondervan); 4. Damascus Countdown, "The Twelfth Imam" No. 3, Joel C. Rosenberg (Tyndale House Publishers); 5. Jesus Calling, Young, large print deluxe (Thomas Nelson); 6. Jesus Calling, Young, deluxe (Thomas Nelson); 7. The 5 Love Languages, Gary Chapman (Northfield Publishing/Moody Publishers); 8. The Guardian; 9. The Harbinger, Jonathan Cahn (FrontLine/Charisma House Book Group); 10. Jesus Today, Young, hardcover (Thomas Nelson); 11. Jesus Calling, Young, women's edition (Thomas Nelson); 12. Pursued, Jud Wilhite (FaithWords); 13. God Gave Us Easter, Lisa Tawn Bergren (WaterBrook Press); 14. The Duck Commander Family, Willie and Korie Robertson (Howard Books); 15. The Chance, Karen Kingsbury (Howard Books); 16. Spiritual Leadership, J. Oswald Sanders (Moody Publishers); 17. The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren (Zondervan); 18. Grace, Max Lucado (Thomas Nelson); 19. Not a Fan, Kyle Idleman (Zondervan); and 20. Love Does, Bob Goff (Thomas Nelson).

The Top 10 Fiction best-sellers were: 1. Damascus Countdown; 2. The Guardian; 3. The Harbinger; 4. The Chance; 5. When Jesus Wept, "The Jerusalem Chronicles" No. 1, Bodie and Brock Thoene (Zondervan); 6. The Twelfth Imam, "The Twelfth Imam" No. 1, Rosenberg (Tyndale); 7. Truth-Stained Lies, "Moonlighter" No. 1, Terri Blackstock (Zondervan); 8. The Last Jihad, "Last Jihad" No. 1, Rosenberg (Tyndale); 9. The Tehran Initiative, Joel C. Rosenberg (Tyndale); and 10. The Icecutter's Daughter, "Land of Shining Water" No. 1, Tracie Peterson (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group).

The top five Bibles were: 1. The Story, NIV, deluxe, hardcover, New International Version (Zondervan); 2. NLT God Sightings, softcover, New Living Translation (Tyndale); 3. NIV Church Bible, navy, hardcover (Zondervan); 4. NIV Thinline Bible, burgundy bonded leather (Zondervan); and 5. NIV Adventure Bible, Italian Duo-Tone, chocolate/toffee (Zonderkidz).

The Charismatic Theology of St. Luke: Trajectories From the Old Testament to Luke-Acts by Roger Stronstad (second edition, Baker Academic/Baker Publishing Group) has been honored with the 2013 Book Award of Excellence by The Foundation for Pentecostal Scholarship.

The organization announced two book awards and three article awards during the 2013 Conference of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, held March 21-23 at Seattle Pacific University.

John Christopher Thomas' The Apocalypse: A Literary and Theological Commentary from CPT (Centre for Pentecostal Theology) Press won the foundation's Award of Merit.

Director and associate professor in Bible and theology at Summit Pacific College (formerly Western Pentecostal Bible College) in Abbotsford, British Columbia for more than 30 years, Stronstad also wrote Spirit, Scripture & Theology: A Pentecostal Perspective (Asia Pacific Theological Seminary Press) and The Prophethood of All Believers (CPT Press).

Click here for more information on the foundation.

Worthy Publishing recently announced the addition of industry veteran Harry Blake as a vice president, sales, specializing in gift and nontraditional book and paper product channels. Blake will place particular emphasis on Worthy’s new Ellie Claire imprint, which specializes in premium quality gift and paper expressions.

Blake directed sales to national accounts for C.R. Gibson, a book, gift and stationery company, where he served for 20 years, including years it operated as a division of Thomas Nelson. He came to Worthy after four years as vice president of sales at Anna Griffin, an Atlanta-based gift and stationery company. During his career, Blake has worked with a wide array of retailers, including Hallmark Gold Crown, Barnes & Noble, Papyrus, Hobby Lobby and Cracker Barrel.