I'm very impressed by the unexpected death of Ute Körner and Pat Kavanagh last week, almost the same day. Ute in Barcelona, Pat in London. Two great literary agents from the same generation. The generation I admire the most. They are, they were, our inspiration, they created a way, they showed us what a good agent is and how to work. I didn't have the chance to meet Pat Kavanagh but I saw her several times since I started my carreer as an agent in 1992. I observed her during the book fairs, working or at cocktails, in Frankfurt or London, without being noticed, too shy. But I did have the chance to meet Ute Körner and share some conversations and meetings (once we finally decided to create the association of literary agencies in Spain a couple of years ago...). I will always remember her enthousiasm, her smile, her sincere words to me in my beginnings: "great! go on! is great to see new and young agents starting! you know where I am, if you ever need anything". I will always have her in my mind and will try to follow her example.
October 27th, 2008