Sterling Lord, who represented Jimmy Breslin, Artwork Buchwald, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gordon Parks and most famously, Jack Kerouac, died Saturday in Ocala, Fla. He was 102 and his demise was confirmed by his daughter, Rebecca Lord. No trigger was given.
The listing of literary greats represented by Lord over his lengthy profession included Frank Deford, David Clever, Nicolas Pileggi, Delores Kearns Goodwin, Joe McGinniss, Pete Gent, Pete Axthelm, and extra. Nevertheless it was Kerouac’s e-book that’s seemingly his lasting legacy, bought for $1,000 after 4 years of attempting. It went on to promote greater than 5 million copies.
Lord was born in Burlington, Iowa, on Sept. 3, 1920. His father was an novice bookbinder and nourished his son’s ardour for books. Oddly, Lord himself publilshed solely two works, a how-to on tennis and a memoir, neither of them large sellers.
He graduated with an English diploma fro Grinnell Faculty in Iowa, then joined the Military and was despatched to Europe close to the tip of World Conflict II. He helped edit the weekly journal of the navy publication Stars and Stripes, briefly taking it non-public when the Military stopped publication in 1948. ,When the journal closed in 1949, he moved to New York.
Lord labored at a number of magazines, together with True and Cosmopolitan, earlier than changing into a literary agent. His tastes had been eclectic, and he was identified to herald massive advances for his roster.
In 1987, Lord joined with agent Peter Matson to type Sterling Lord Literistic. He continued to work nicely into his 90s as a high-performing agent. He ended his stint there and shaped his personal company on the finish of his profession.
Lord was married and divorced 4 instances. His daughter, Rebecca Lord, is his solely quick survivor.
