Paul "Sailor" Vernon (5 July 1949 – 9 December 2024) was a British blues expert, record collector, discographer, writer and magazine editor.
After returning to live in London in 1966, he worked at his parents' newsagent shop while developing his interest in pre-war and post-war blues and jazz, and expanding his record collection.
[2][3] In 1976, he began selling and auctioning blues records by mail order; the nickname "Sailor Vernon" arose from among his friends at that time.
[2][3] He moved to San Francisco with his second wife in 1986, and established another short-lived magazine, Old Sailor's Almanac, but returned to London in 1989, and worked for the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS).
While there he met the American illustrator Gene Deitch, who had made private recordings of John Lee Hooker performing live in 1951, which Vernon arranged to have released.