Sara Ann Freed, 57
by Staff -- Publishers Weekly, 7/7/2003
Sara Ann Freed, an award-winning editor-in-chief at Mysterious Press and a senior editor at Warner Books, died in New York City while receiving treatment for leukemia. She was 57. Freed began her career in religious publishing, before moving to New York City and eventually joining Mysterious Press in 1985 as a manuscript reader. She is credited with advising then-unknown mystery author Patricia Cornwell in 1988 to make her fictional character Kay Scarpetta the main character in her first book, Postmortem. Cornwell went on to become a bestselling novelist and Scarpetta her most famous character. Freed received an Ellery Queen award for distinguished contributions to mystery publishing in 1999. A memorial service is scheduled for September 17. The location will be announced.
