14 Aug 2010 09:36:07
Elaine Koster was a literary agent and publisher with a great talent. He helped Stephen King and Khaled Hosseini and "The Kite Runner,". He was 69 when he died. It was on Tuesday at 12 of August.
In 1998, she started the Elaine Koster Literary Agency, where clients have included Monique Truong, Kimberla Lawson Roby and Julie Buxbaum. Her most notable find was Hosseini, whose manuscript for "The Kite Runner" had been turned down by numerous other agents. According to Hosseini, she was so enthusiastic she left a message on his voicemail telling him his book would be a hit. Thanks to word of mouth, millions of copies have been sold.
"I am deeply saddened by Elaine's passing. Elaine was a wonderful agent, and I owe my career to her," Hosseini said in a statement. "She opened her door to me when no one else would. She was a loyal and dear friend, and I will miss greatly her warmth, her encouragement, and her unfailing belief in me."
Born Elaine Landis in 1940, she grew up in Manhattan and graduated from Barnard College in 1962. Besides working at New American Library, she was president and publisher Dutton and worked with literary and commercial authors, including Joyce Carol Oates, Toni Morrison, Eric Jerome Dickey and Peter Straub.
"Her ability to recognize well-written commercial fiction ... as well as important literary fiction, was unparalleled," King, who had been working part-time as teacher when "Carrie" was first published, said in a statement. "She may have been the key figure in the ascendance of the paperback in the marketplace during the 1970s and 1980s."
She is survived by her husband, Bill Koster, and daughter Elizabeth.
In 1998, she started the Elaine Koster Literary Agency, where clients have included Monique Truong, Kimberla Lawson Roby and Julie Buxbaum. Her most notable find was Hosseini, whose manuscript for "The Kite Runner" had been turned down by numerous other agents. According to Hosseini, she was so enthusiastic she left a message on his voicemail telling him his book would be a hit. Thanks to word of mouth, millions of copies have been sold.
"I am deeply saddened by Elaine's passing. Elaine was a wonderful agent, and I owe my career to her," Hosseini said in a statement. "She opened her door to me when no one else would. She was a loyal and dear friend, and I will miss greatly her warmth, her encouragement, and her unfailing belief in me."
Born Elaine Landis in 1940, she grew up in Manhattan and graduated from Barnard College in 1962. Besides working at New American Library, she was president and publisher Dutton and worked with literary and commercial authors, including Joyce Carol Oates, Toni Morrison, Eric Jerome Dickey and Peter Straub.
"Her ability to recognize well-written commercial fiction ... as well as important literary fiction, was unparalleled," King, who had been working part-time as teacher when "Carrie" was first published, said in a statement. "She may have been the key figure in the ascendance of the paperback in the marketplace during the 1970s and 1980s."
She is survived by her husband, Bill Koster, and daughter Elizabeth.
