Sterling Lord Death - Sterling Lord, the Uniquely Enduring Literary Agent has sadly passed away at age 102. [1] While in high school, Lord was the school's newspaper editor. He represented former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and Judge John J. Sirica of Watergate fame and worked often with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis during her time as an editor with Doubleday and Viking. In his 2013 memoir Lord of Publishing, Lord remembered first meeting Kerouac in 1952. He had just turned 102. Lord had met many agents during his years at the magazine and believed that they failed to understand that the American public was becoming increasingly urban and sophisticated. A number of things about this business have really caught me and made it a compelling interest, Mr. Lord told the AP in 2013. Into his basement-level office on Park Avenue walked a young man wearing "a light weather . [3] A magazine called Weekend which he bought with a partner, Evan Jones, failed, and he was fired from Cosmopolitan magazine. Thanks to his friendship with Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, Lord helped launch Stan and Jan Berenstain's multimillion-selling books about an anthropomorphic bear family. One editor wrote to Mr. Lord: Kerouac does have enormous talent of a very special kind. She married James D. Anderson on November Read More, Dale Sugars Born: March 11, 1944 in Walnut, IL Died: February 11, 2023 in Sterling, IL Dale Sugars, 78 of Sterling, died Sautrday February 11, 2023. He was Read More, Frances Johnson Born: March 20, 1923 in Harmon, IL Died: January 16, 2023 in Morrison, IL Frances Margaret Johnson, 99, formerly of Como died Monday, January 16, 2023 at Resthave Care & Rehabilitation in Morrison. With rare persistence, he endured the initial unwillingness of publishers to take on Kerouacs unorthodox narrative, and he later was the longtime agent for poet and playwright Amiri Baraka, novelist Ken Kesey, and poet and City Lights bookstore owner Lawrence Ferlinghetti. And thirdly, I managed to get acquainted with unusually interesting people.. Oakfield - Sterling Lawrence, 66, went to be with his Lord on March 27, 2022, in Bangor. He stayed with the company he founded until almost 100 years old, and then decided to open a new one. His upbringing, he would later write, was the kind of pleasant, orderly world the Beats were trampling on in the fifties and sixties.. The agent eventually sold excerpts to The Paris Review and the periodical New World Writing. Second, I am interested in new and good ideas. But Kerouac was a shy and fragile man, Lord wrote. Sterling Lord, the literary agent whose six-decade career began when he championed then-unknown Jack Kerouac, died on Saturday at 102, according to his daughter. Johnsons The Vantage Point, ultimately published in 1971, was dismissed by critics as bland and uninformative. It was an amazing moment, recalled Mr. Pileggi, the author of Wise Guy, a book for which Mr. Lord hatched the idea, and which Martin Scorsese adapted for the 1990 movie Goodfellas. Here we were, all at an advanced age, and we were still the kids Sterling was helping.. Mr. Lord didnt keep his original manuscript of Kerouacs On the Road, nor did he ever procure a signed copy for himself. Lord held out for $1,000. Some of the great sports books of the 20th century, from North Dallas Forty to Secretariat, were written by his clients. His upbringing, he would later write, was the kind of pleasant, orderly world the Beats were trampling on in the fifties and sixties.. She was born on January 11, 1942 to Henry and Mabel (Green) Keister in Dixon, IL. Read More, Submit an obit for publication in any local newspaper and on Legacy. The Army discontinued the magazine in 1948, but Lord co-owned it as a private publication for a year afterwards. He negotiated terms between McGinniss and accused killer Jeffrey MacDonald, later convicted, for the true crime classic Fatal Vision. He found a publisher for Nicholas Pileggis mob story Wiseguy and helped arrange the deal for its celebrated film adaptation, Goodfellas., In the early 1960s, Viking had asked Lord to get a blurb from Kerouac for One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Keseys first and most famous novel. Arrangements were completed by McDonald Funeral Read More, Sylvia Rita Krummel Born: April 23, 1940 in Rock Island Died: February 4, 2023 in Rock Falls Sylvia Rita Krummel, 82, of Rock Falls, died Saturday, February 4, 2023 at her home. Lord was a fledgling Manhattan literary agent in 1952 when . Lord oversaw Kerouac's numerous posthumous releases even as he battled the authors family for control of the estate. Mr. Lord instead found a deal for Quotations from Chairman LBJ, a best-selling parody. Cremation rites have been accorded. In On The Road, Mr. Lord believed that Kerouac had a fresh, distinctive voice that should be heard. But the industry was not in the mood. Johnsons The Vantage Point, ultimately published in 1971, was dismissed by critics as bland and uninformative. His full roster of clients produced works about sports, politics, murder and the travails of illustrated animals. Representatives for the former president informed Lord in the late 1960s that Johnson wanted $1 million for the book and that Mr. Lord should accept less than his usual commission for the honor of working with him. Al was born November 28, 1942 the son of Charles and Anita (Bane) Wildman. Connect with your classmates to honor alumni and teachers. Thanks to his friendship with Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, Lord helped launch Stan and Jan Berenstains multimillion-selling books about an anthropomorphic bear family. Search by Name. The agent eventually sold excerpts to The Paris Review and the periodical New World Writing. But this is not a well-made novel, nor a saleable one nor even, I think, a good one.. Kerouac declined, but Mr. Lord was so impressed by the book that he ended up representing Kesey for his next work, Sometimes a Great Notion.. FILE - In this Jan. 8 2013 file photo, literary agent Sterling Lord speaks during an interview in his New York office. Dale was born March 11, 1944 in Greenville Township, the son of Delmar and Esther (Schrader) Sugars. His last years with the agency were unhappy, however, as he came to feel that some of his colleagues were undermining him. A memorial service will take place at 11AM Tuesday February 7, 2023 Read More, Sarah E. Orrender Born: March 13, 1932 in Chilhowie, VA Died: February 1, 2023 in Sterling, IL Sarah E. Orrender, 90 died Wednesday February 1, 2023 at Rock River Hospice & Home in Sterling, IL Sarah (Porter) Orrender was born March 13,1932 in Chilhowie, Virginia to Coy And Read More, Patricia Simester Born: February 17, 1943 in Sterling, IL Died: February 1, 2023 in Rock Falls, IL Patricia S. Simester, 79, of Rock Falls died Wednesday February 1, 2023 at her home surrounded by family. Lord had quick success by selling film rights to two popular sports books, Rocky Grazianos Somebody Up There Likes Me and Jimmy Piersalls Fear Strikes Out. But Lord's On the Road quest would prove bumpier. Mr. Lord attended Kerouacs funeral, sharing a limousine ride with his client Jimmy Breslin and standing by the grave alongside poet Allen Ginsberg. NEW YORK (AP) Sterling Lord, the uniquely enduring literary agent who worked for years to find a publisher for Jack Kerouacs On the Road and over the following decades arranged deals for everyone from true crime writer Joe McGinniss to the creators of the Berenstain Bears, has died. In 1957, the book was released, The New York Times raved, and On the Road soon entered the American canon. After serving in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, Mr. Lord co-owned the Germany-based magazine Weekend, which soon folded. He had just turned 102. She was born on February 4, 1936 in Benton, IL the daughter of Claud and Myrtle (Smith) Read More, Barbara G. Mammosser Born: August 6, 1945 in Sterling, IL Died: February 25, 2023 in Sterling, IL Barbara G. Mammosser, age 77, of Rock Falls, died Saturday, February 25, 2023 at Rock River Hospice and Home in Sterling. After serving in the Air Force during World War II, Lord became part owner of the German magazine Weekend, which soon went out of business. Funeral services for Mark will be held at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, January 22, 2023 at the Morrison Chapel of Read More, Gordon Mool Born: January 26, 1940 in El Paso, IL Died: January 17, 2023 in Amboy, IL Gordon Eugene Mool, 82, of Amboy, Illinois, passed away on January 17, 2023, at his home. Lord would also speak proudly of a project he declined: Lyndon Johnsons memoir. The uniquely enduring literary agent who worked for years to find a publisher for Jack Kerouacs On the Road and over the following decades arranged deals for everyone from true crime writer Joe McGinniss to the creators of the Berenstain Bears, has died. He had just turned 102. He got Erica Jong $1.2 million for her novel Fanny and Judge John J. Sirica $500,000 for the paperback rights to his Watergate memoir. Frankly, I didnt want to deal with the situation at home, he told the Des Moines Register in 2015. By 1955, Kerouac was ready to give up but Lord was not. Mr. Lord oversaw Kerouacs numerous posthumous releases even as he battled the authors family for control of the estate. But Lord had little involvement in the project, directed by Walter Salles and starring Sam Riley and Kristen Stewart. Lord held out $1,000. Read the obituary of Elijah W. Sterling (1933 - 2019) from Centreville, MD. Mr. Giroux had not quite rejected On the Road, but he wouldnt handle it in the form in which Kerouac had famously written it and tendered it to him: on a 120-foot scroll of architectural tracing paper. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, file) NEW YORK (AP) Sterling Lord, the uniquely enduring literary agent who worked for years to find a publisher for Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" and over the following . After years of failed attempts, a filmed version of On the Road was released in 2012. His old-fashioned ways extended even to his letterhead, which listed his telephone number as Plaza 1-2533. If you didnt know New York City was 212, he really didnt want to hear from you, said Stuart Krichevsky, a fellow agent who worked with Mr. Lord for 16 years. Fame increased the problem with alcohol they killed him in 1969. He not only continued to represent Kerouac but became his friend Kerouac came to call the guest quarters of the home he shared with his mother in Florida the Sterling Room.. Kerouac already had completed a conventional novel, The Town and the City, but had no agent and needed one for his next book: On the Road was typed, as Lord was among the first to know, on a 120-foot scroll of architectural tracing paper., Lord believed that Kerouac had a fresh, distinctive voice that should be heard. But the industry was not in the mood. [3] His father, also named Sterling, was an executive at the Leopold Desk Company in Burlington who also worked as a bookbinder.