The Queen鈥檚 Quarterly family mourns the loss of one of our own. Joan Harcourt, literary editor for more than three decades, died March 24 after having spent 92 wonderfully varied, creative, engaged, and kind years on this earth. Her long life straddled both sides of the Anglo-Canadian Atlantic, from circulating around Swinging London鈥檚 vivid social scene to contributing mightily if invisibly, as is any editor鈥檚 plight, to Canada鈥檚 burgeoning literary world.
For me, I will miss her smile, generosity, and judiciousness. She was also my trump card in that party game 鈥渟ix degrees of separation,鈥 for thanks to her I could always claim a vicarious elbow鈥檚 brush with Paul McCartney.
Her first job, she told me, was reviewing for J. Arthur Rank Productions unpublished novels for their potential as screenplays. Being paid to read, she thought, was a wonderful way to live. And it is.
If you have the misfortune of submitting to the Quarterly a piece for consideration for publication that we are unable to accept, you will receive an email from me that reads: 鈥淭hank you for your submission to our journal. Although it wasn鈥檛 accepted for publication, we enjoyed reading your work.鈥
That鈥檚 Joan, who could turn saying no into a smile.