New York (AP) — The uniquely enduring literary agent who worked for years to find a publisher for Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” and over the following decades arranged deals for everyone from true crime writer Joe McGinniss to the creators of the Berenstain Bears has died.
Sterling Lord was 102.
He endured the initial unwillingness of publishers to take on Kerouac’s unorthodox narrative and was the longtime agent for other shining lights of the Beats.
His full roster of clients produced works about sports, politics, murder and the travails of illustrated animals.
Lord told the Des Moines Register in 2015, “Hey, I’m just this kid from Burlington, Iowa. That’s who I am. All these big shots have treated me generously and courteously.”
His daughter told The Associated Press that Lord “had a good death and died peacefully of old age” Saturday.
