Carole Blake, co-founder of the literary agency Blake Friedmann, died Tuesday, the Bookseller reported. The agency said: "The loss of such an incredible woman so soon is not something any of us feel prepared for, but we are grateful that she lived so fully to the last, and that she died swiftly and painlessly, on being readmitted to hospital last night, with Julian [Friedmann] by her side." In 2013, Blake was given the Women in Publishing Pandora Award for a "significant and sustained contribution to the publishing industry" and celebrated her 50 years in the book industry. Blake was also the author of the bestselling book From Pitch to Publication.
"Carole was imposing, whip smart, logical, a demon negotiator and contractual stickler," said Pan Macmillan publisher Jeremy Trevathan. "She also had a heart and a personality as big as the ocean. As the years moved on, Carole became more of a colleague than a demon adversary. She worked in partnership with her authors and publishers to ensure that the best result ensued. She never took herself seriously. My fondest memory of her will be of her dressed as a lobster at the annual publishing pantomime berating her fellow agent lobsters, Jonathan Lloyd and Andrew Nurnberg, to perform the lobster quadrille correctly. But seriously, this is major loss to our industry, and we at Pan Macmillan are so sad and send our warmest thoughts to her family and her colleagues at Blake Friedmann."