“The Grandma Moses of Mystery Editors”

Today we mourn the loss of Ruth Cavin, who for many years was the crime-fiction editor at St. Martin’s Press, who died Sunday at age 92. As critic Sarah Weinman recalls,

through the various contests the imprint ran (with the [Private Eye Writers of America] for a debut P.I. novel, with Malice Domestic for debut traditional mystery, with the Tony Hillerman foundation for debut crime novel from the Western states) she championed new writers, as well as those who might not otherwise find a home within the publishing industry. People like Steve Hamilton, Bill Crider, Robin Hathaway, Julia Spencer-Fleming, Donna Andrews, Elizabeth Zelvin, Meredith Cole, and John Maddox Roberts owe all or part of their careers to Cavin.

Cavin was also a role model for anyone who thought being of AARP age meant one’s career prospects are finished. After all, she didn’t even begin her stint as a book editor until she was in her early 60s--and St. Martin’s didn’t hire her until she was about 70!

Mike Shatzkin, a self-styled authority on digital change in the book publishing industry, has an excellent tribute to Cavin life at the Idea Logical Company site. Bill Crider adds his own two cents here.

(Hat tip to Mystery Fanfare.)

READ MORE: “Remembering Ruth,” by Donna Andrews (Femmes Fatales).