Old Possums Book of Practical Cats
T.S. Eliot’s wife, Valerie Eliot, is dead; she edited an edition of The Waste Land
Valerie Eliot, who married the poet T.S. Eliot near the end
of his life and steadfastly guarded his
literary legacy for nearly half a century, has died in
London.
She was 86. Ms. Eliot, who was almost 38 years younger than her husband, had been his secretary for several years at the publishing house Faber & Faber when they married in 1957.
Ms. Eliot, who guarded his privacy fiercely, died in 1965, having stated his wish to keep biographers from stirring the ashes of his life. She herself, however, edited a much-admired edition of ‘The Waste Land’ , consisting of a facsimile and transcript of its original drafts and edited annotations by ‘Ezra Pound’.
And she approved a theatrical adaptation of her husband’s book of poems for children, ‘Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats’ , which became the musical Cats , bringing her and the estate great wealth, from which she created a charitable trust.
She was 86. Ms. Eliot, who was almost 38 years younger than her husband, had been his secretary for several years at the publishing house Faber & Faber when they married in 1957.
Ms. Eliot, who guarded his privacy fiercely, died in 1965, having stated his wish to keep biographers from stirring the ashes of his life. She herself, however, edited a much-admired edition of ‘The Waste Land’ , consisting of a facsimile and transcript of its original drafts and edited annotations by ‘Ezra Pound’.
And she approved a theatrical adaptation of her husband’s book of poems for children, ‘Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats’ , which became the musical Cats , bringing her and the estate great wealth, from which she created a charitable trust.
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