Deborah Jane Coltman Rogers, Baroness Berkeley of Knighton (6 April 1938 – 30 April 2014) was a British literary agent, who founded her own agency in 1967.

Biography

Born at her parents' London home in

Thurloe Square Thurloe Square is a traditional garden square in South Kensington, London, England. There are private communal gardens in the centre of the square for use by the local residents. The Victoria and Albert Museum is close by to the north acros ...

South Kensington South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...

, Rogers was one of six children; Ion Trewin
"Deborah Rogers obituary"
''The Guardian'', 4 May 2014. her mother Stella Moore was an actress, while her father worked in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

. She attended Hatherop Castle School in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, but did not go to university."Deborah Rogers – obituary"
''Daily Telegraph'', 2 May 2014. Her agency, originally Deborah Rogers Ltd, was established in 1967. Pat White soon joined, and the two women were joined by a third partner, Gill Coleridge, two decades later. At the end of her life, Rogers was the chairman of Rogers, Coleridge and White.Sarah Shaffi

''The Bookseller'', 1 May 2014. Among the authors Rogers represented were A. S. Byatt,

Ian McEwan Ian Russell McEwan, (born 21 June 1948) is an English novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, ''The Times'' featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 19 in its list of th ...

and Peter Carey.Richard Lea
"Deborah Rogers, 'legendary' literary agent, has died"
theguardian.com, 1 May 2014. Earlier in her career, she had represented

Angela Carter Angela Olive Pearce (formerly Carter, Stalker; 7 May 1940 – 16 February 1992), who published under the name Angela Carter, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and picar ...

, and (before he joined Andrew Wylie's agency)

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and We ...

. Shortly after the professional breach, Rogers offered Rushdie her second home as a refuge from the

fatwā A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist ...

(death sentence) imposed by Ayatollah Khomeini in February 1989. The remote farm in

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

was used by Rushdie during his decade in hiding. Rogers was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award in International Publishing at the

London Book Fair The London Book Fair (LBF) is a large book-publishing trade fair held annually, usually in April, in London, England. LBF is a global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and di ...

in April 2014. The award was presented by another of her clients,

Kazuo Ishiguro Sir Kazuo Ishiguro ( ; born 8 November 1954) is a British novelist, screenwriter, musician, and short-story writer. Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan, and moved to Britain in 1960 with his parents when he was five. He is one of the most cr ...

, who had been introduced to Rogers by Angela Carter. Rogers married the composer

Michael Berkeley Michael Fitzhardinge Berkeley, Baron Berkeley of Knighton, (born 29 May 1948) is an English composer, broadcaster on music and member of the House of Lords. Early life Berkeley is the eldest of the three sons of Elizabeth Freda (née Bernstein ...

in 1979; the couple had an adopted daughter. Rogers died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in 2014, aged 76.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Deborah 1938 births 2014 deaths Berkeley of Knighton Literary agents People from South Kensington Spouses of life peers