The widow and literary executor of the Nobel laureate has died after a short illness
Valerie Eliot, after presenting the TS Eliot prize in 2006. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Valerie Eliot, the widow and literary executor of poet TS Eliot, has died at the age of 86.
The poet's estate said she died on Friday at her London home after a short illness.
Valerie Eliot was the second wife of the US-born Nobel laureate in literature, whom she met at London publisher Faber & Faber. He was a director, she a secretary.
The couple wed in 1957. Friends said the marriage was a happy one despite the almost 40-year gap in their ages.
After TS Eliot's death in 1965, Valerie became his devoted executor, editing his poems and letters for publication and steadfastly refusing to cooperate with would-be biographers, in keeping with the poet's last wishes.
A death notice in the Daily Telegraph said her funeral would be private.
The poet's estate said she died on Friday at her London home after a short illness.
Valerie Eliot was the second wife of the US-born Nobel laureate in literature, whom she met at London publisher Faber & Faber. He was a director, she a secretary.
The couple wed in 1957. Friends said the marriage was a happy one despite the almost 40-year gap in their ages.
After TS Eliot's death in 1965, Valerie became his devoted executor, editing his poems and letters for publication and steadfastly refusing to cooperate with would-be biographers, in keeping with the poet's last wishes.
A death notice in the Daily Telegraph said her funeral would be private.