Clara Heyworth, the marketing director at the radical publishing house Verso Books and one half of one of the most beloved couples in New York publishing, has died after being hit by a car in Brooklyn early Sunday morning.
Verso posted the following remembrance on their web site today:
The loss to Verso is immeasurable. Clara was a young woman with many qualities. She first came to us as Office Manager and Publicist in the London office in 2006, delighting everyone with her enthusiasm and intelligence, a knowledge of our publishing history and a no-nonsense approach to everyone, including senior staff. While her primary interest was in publicity she had very strong editorial views and intervened forcefully whenever she felt that by taking on an inappropriate manuscript Verso’s standards would be diluted.
A young life so meaninglessly and prematurely truncated pains us all, but we will not forget her or her bright-eyed smile that so often lit an entire office. Our condolences go out to all those who knew her and worked with her and will miss her presence, but primarily to the two people who meant the most to her. Her mother whom she adored not just as a parent, but as a friend and mentor and to her husband, Jacob Stevens, Verso’s Managing Director.
Here at The Observer we are stunned and saddened by this terrible news. Many of us came into contact with Heyworth, while writing book reviews or at the legendary parties she threw at Verso’s loft in DUMBO. She will be greatly missed.
