Susan Watt, a veteran publisher and HarperCollins editor-at-large, has died, the Bookseller reported, adding that she was one of the longest-serving publishers in the industry, with a career that lasted more than 60 years.
Her first job in the book business was at Blackwell's bookstore in Oxford when she was in college. Watt went on to worked at publishers in both the U.K. and U.S., including Fontana, Michael Joseph, HarperCollins, and Quercus. Her longest publishing collaboration was with Bernard Cornwell, with whom she shared a 40-year publishing partnership.
"Susan was an exceptional editor and person," said HarperCollins U.K. CEO Charlie Redmayne. "Respected and admired by her many authors, she also influenced and inspired so many publishing friends and colleagues. We were privileged that Susan spent so much of her career with us here at HarperCollins and was with us right up until her final days. I will always be indebted to her for putting a copy of Azincourt in my hand ahead of a long trip to the U.S. and thereby introducing me to the incredible world of Bernard Cornwell. We will miss her greatly and our thoughts are with her friends and family."
Cornwell observed: "To be one of Susan's authors was to have her friendship and passionate support, and, like so many others, what success I have enjoyed was mostly owed to Susan's enthusiasm, judgment, and generosity. I have not lost an editor, but a dear friend."
Author Tracy Chevalier added: "Susan acquired Girl with a Pearl Earring for HarperCollins, clearly seeing something in it that perhaps the rest of us didn't--myself included. I will always be grateful for her solid grounding in history and her gentle but persistent editing that made that book and several subsequent novels better."