Abner Stein–co-agent and friend

Got the sad, awful news that Abner passed away. How do you capture all that a person has meant to you in your life? Our British co-agent. A brilliant agent and business colleague, but so much more. In the early days at the agency, we corresponded, faxed, emailed, talked weekly, sometimes daily. It was as if we had worked a few blocks down 5th Ave. from one another. He was a legend even when I first met him and treated me as an equal from day one. One could never forget the classic, typed notes of Abner’s or his inimitable signature. He could recall specifics of books and authors and deals like no other. I can hear his laugh…our sanity was saved by the inside jokes that put us on the same team, always cheering the other on. Albeit thousands of miles away, we were colleagues…negotiating deals hand in hand….sharing pictures of children… joking about what bonanza latest gift he bought his granddaughter. Abner always knew the right thing to say, the classic way to sum up the situation concisely and with a plan–and with that Boston/British accent that was just so compelling. And with an aside, “You know, Susan, you really ought to…consider coming to London…” or “..you really ought to tell David that…” “…think about…” “…if we can’t get more than that offer, we really should find other work.” Offering me advice, being a friend, and saying words that would forever impact my career. We had only been emailing in early December about a deal we had just closed…something that had lingered for a while and was at last resolved. We joked about what I cooked for Thanksgiving. “Susan, lasagna?! “ And in the next email: “I love lasagna. I bet yours was great.”