Obits

Booker-prize winning novelist Hilary Mantel, 70, died of a stroke on Thursday at a hospital in Exeter, England. Her agent Bill Hamilton said to the New York Times, “She had so many great novels ahead of her” and noted that she’d been working on a new one. The author of the celebrated Thomas Cromwell trilogy, Mantel won the Booker for both Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, and was longlisted for The Mirror and the Light. Joan Fusco, 83, former manager, remainders & overstocks at Abrams, died on September 14 after a stroke. Fusco joined the company in 2000. […]

Spanish novelist Javier Marías, 70, died at his home on Sunday. He’d been suffering from pneumonia. Marías’ 15 books include the Your Face Tomorrow trilogy, A Heart So White, and All Souls.

Peter Straub, 79, author of numerous horror, thriller, and fantasy novels, died on September 5. Titles included Ghost Story, Koko, The Throat, Black House, and many more. Straub is survived by his wife Susan Bitker and their two children, Ben and author and Books Are owner Magic Emma Straub. “Peter was a wizard on the page,” says Doubleday vp, executive editor Lee Boudreaux, who edited Black House among other titles. “Among his many gifts, Peter transported readers on labyrinthine journeys as notable for their literary heft and devilishly clever dialogue as they were for Peter’s boundary-shattering imagination—and capacity to scare […]

Barbara Ehrenreich, 81, journalist and author of a number of books including Nickel and Dimed, Bait and Switch, Smile or Die, and more, died on September 1. Ehrenreich continued to write into her 80s and her daughter told the New York Times that she was working on a book about the “evolution of narcissism.” Literary agent Sterling Lord died on September 3, on his 102nd birthday. An agent for more than 60 years, he represented Ken Kesey, Joe McGinniss, Jimmy Breslin, the Berenstain Bears books, Art Buchwald, Willie Morris, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Howard Fast, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and many more.

Novelist Michael Malone died on August 19 of pancreatic cancer. He was the author of 14 books including First Lady and he won an Edgar Award in 1997 for his short story “Red Clay.” He also won a daytime Emmy in 1994 for his writing on One Life to Live.

Children’s book author-illustrator Liz Goulet Dubois, 55, died on August 14 of cancer. Her books include What Kind of Rabbit Are You?, What Does a Seed Need?, and most recently, That Egg Is Mine!  Eliza Swift, who worked with Dubois while at Sourcebooks, said, “She was such a funny, vibrant woman and an absolute delight to work with. I felt – and feel – so strongly that she had a unique voice and perspective and was destined to become a new classic author for kids.”