Sue Freestone was publishing director at Heinemann, Hutchinson and Quercus over the course of a distinguished career, and guided the early -- and then the mature -- careers of many authors who became best sellers. Her list included Douglas Adams, Stephen Fry, Robert Harris and Sebastian Faulks, and she also saw into print the books of a number of political heavyweights, among them Alastair Campbell, Tony Benn and Bill Clinton.

She was undeterred by writer's block, even when her writers were. The famously deadline-averse Douglas Adams was no match for his publisher's determination to see his books in to print: many of his inscriptions in these books bear witness to the crucial role Freestone played in ensuring they got written at all. Others -- notably Sebastian Faulks -- pay tribute to her sensitivity and finesse as both editor and publisher. And all pay tribute to her as a friend.