Literary agent, scout, and memoirist Lynn C. Franklin died of metastatic breast cancer on July 19. She was 74.
Franklin founded her eponymous scouting agency, Lynn C. Franklin Associates, in 1978, specializing in foreign rights. She later partnered with Todd R. Siegal to form the scouting agency Franklin & Siegal Associates in 1992, which represents foreign publishers in the adult, young adult, and middle grade categories. The agency also scouts books for Hollywood.
As an agent, Franklin represented a number of well-known clients, including Deepak Chopra and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
An author herself, Franklin wrote, with Elizabeth Ferber, the memoir May the Circle Be Unbroken: An Intimate Journey Into the Heart of Adoption (Harmony, 1998), an account of her 1993 reunion with her biological son, whom she had relinquished for adoption years before. (In its review, PW called the book "a helpful guide for readers already convinced of the wisdom of open adoption.") Franklin went on to become an advocate for adoption reform, and served on the boards of Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children and the Donaldson Adoption Institute.
A memorial for Franklin will be held on September 29 at 6:00 p.m. ET at the Cosmopolitan Club in New York City.
