William Turnbull; North Point Press Co-Founder

William D. Turnbull, who announced the demise of his small but distinguished North Point Press only last December when he failed to find a buyer, has died of cancer. He was 64.

Turnbull, who owned the prestigious Berkeley-based book publishing house he co-founded in 1980, died Thursday at his home in Stinson Beach, his office announced Friday.

“My death could trigger a fire sale . . . and that could be ruinous for a house like North Point,” Turnbull told a reporter in December, 1989, when he first made public his intention to sell the company.

Turnbull announced the closure of the company Dec. 11, after he and co-founder and editor Jack Shoemaker made a last futile foray to New York in search of a buyer.

A company spokeswoman said Friday that the closure, now scheduled for June 30 after the spring publishing list is distributed, was unrelated to Turnbull’s illness.

The company has published more than 290 books, including the recent bestseller “Crow and Weasel” by Barry Lopez.

Turnbull, whose books frequently sold fewer than 2,000 copies, also achieved success in the mid-1980s with Evan Connell’s “Son of the Morning Star,” which sold 90,000. The book about Custer’s last stand at Little Bighorn recently was telecast as a miniseries.

His reprint of aviatrix Beryl Markham’s “West With the Night,” which also was made into a television movie, sold a notable 550,000 copies.

“I said at the start that the Markham book could sink without a trace,” Turnbull said in 1988 after the book succeeded. “We sent the salesmen out and they got advance orders for just 964 copies. Yet within half a year, 19,000 were in print. It was a classic word-of-mouth book.”

Other authors published by North Point Press include Wendell Berry, M. F. K. Fisher, James Salter, Anne Lamott, Guy Davenport and Gary Snyder.

“North Point Press,” Turnbull said at the time of his company’s founding, “is dedicated to the task of filling the growing gap between the small, fine press and the large commercial publisher, borrowing from the former a commitment to excellence in design and format, and from the latter a distribution system to reach the wider audience our books deserve.

“Our policy,” he said, “is to keep quality books in print on an active back list.”

Stressing quality, Turnbull insisted on superior typography, graphics, editing and even special acid-free paper to retard disintegration of his books.

A native of East Orange, N.J., Turnbull was educated at the Montclair Academy, Lehigh University, the University of Kentucky and the University of Geneva in Switzerland. He served in the armed forces during World War II and worked in France for many years.

A civil engineer, Turnbull headed the home-building firm called Channing Group, based in Menlo Park. He established North Point as something of a hobby because he loved fine literature.

Turnbull is survived by his wife, Mary Hall; a daughter, Catharine Turnbull Marsh, two grandchildren and three stepchildren.

The family has asked that any memorial donations be made to the Rain Forest Action Network, 301 Broadway Suite A, San Francisco, Calif. 94133.