Raise Your Wands for Susan Jeffers Casel, “Harry Potter” Copy Editor
As all Harry Potter fans know, there are many people who helped to make our beloved book series a reality. Not just J.K. Rowling herself, or the talented artists who illustrated those original covers, but also editors, publicists, agents, sales reps, and so many others who believed in Harry just as much as we did. We have recently lost one of those remarkable people – Susan Jeffers Casel, who was a copy editor for the US editions of the books.
Cheryl Klein, continuity editor for the last two Harry Potter books and currently an editor at Scholastic, tweeted yesterday about Susan’s contributions:
A sad bit of publishing news: Susan Jeffers Casel, who copyedited the HP books in the U.S., passed away on 5/23. http://t.co/kEfhLSJV9E
— Cheryl Klein (@chavelaque) June 26, 2015
She worked as a production editor for Scholastic for many years & freelanced a lot, too. We spent hours debating points of HP house style +
— Cheryl Klein (@chavelaque) June 26, 2015
+ (like if “house” should be capped in “Gryffindor House”). She was 1 of the invisible hands on HP that bettered everyone’s readings of it.
— Cheryl Klein (@chavelaque) June 26, 2015
If you’re a Harry Potter fan, raise a wand in Susan’s memory. Thank you.
— Cheryl Klein (@chavelaque) June 26, 2015
We raise our wands to you, Susan. Thanks for helping make the world a little more magical.
