A Tribute to Hilary Ross
On August 19th, six past and present Signet Regency romance authors, representing
more than 50 of their colleagues, honored Regency romance editor extraordinaire
Hilary Ross with a tribute and a gift for her many contributions to the
romance genre at a luncheon held at One CPS at the Plaza Hotel in New York
City.
Hilary opens her gift
The gift was a lovely gold filigree diamond bar pin (below). The pin (circa
1915) is 14 karat white gold on top, yellow gold on the bottom, with five
diamonds. The center stone is approximately 1/2 carat, with four smaller
stones of approximately 0.12 carat each.
A more eloquent description was given by Margaret Evans Porter: "It sparkles
like a demon, and is the most elegant and ladylike thing you ever saw."
Accompanying the pin was a booklet (right) with the names of everyone
who contributed to the gift, the names of the luncheon guests (see photos
at the bottom of the page), and the names of the authors who organized the
tribute, as well as a number of personal messages from Hilary's authors.
Mary Jo Putney describes the luncheon:
"The Plaza restaurant was an inspired choice, with fine food and the high,
ornate ceiling of an English castle. Hilary arrived expecting to see only
Barbara Metzger and Edith Layton, so she was stunned to find the rest of
us as well. (Joan Wolf, Nancy Butler, Andrea Pickens, and me.) If everyone
who wanted to attend had been able to, we would have taken up half the restaurant,
I think.
"We shared some favorite Hilary stories. (She is without doubt the funniest
editor I've ever had.) As the one in the group who had been her author first,
Joan [Wolf] offered a toast to Hilary -- 'the best editor I ever had' --
and her contributions to the genre and her authors. After the toast, we discussed
Hilary's uncanny ability to find the weak point in any book.
"The occasion truly was a tribute to an editor who shaped a genre, gave
many of us our start in the business, and who edited countless wonderful
stories over the years."
Tribute Luncheon
seated: Hilary Ross (left) and Nancy Butler
standing (left to right): Barbara Metzger, Mary Jo Putney, Edith Layton
(left photo only), Andrea Pickens, Joan Wolf
Like the heroines of
many of the books she edited, Hilary Ross is a Diamond of the First Water.
As an editor, she's an Incomparable. She was an editor at Signet for 28
years
and edited Regency romances since the line began in 1978. She will be
sorely missed!
