ABSE, Joan 1926-2005

∗ Indicates that a listing has been compiled from secondary sources believed to be reliable, but has not been personally verified for this edition by the author sketched.

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born September 11, 1926, in St. Helens, Lancashire, England; died in a car accident, June 13, 2005, near Bridgend, Glamorgan, Wales. Art historian, librarian, and author. Abse was a highly respected author of art histories and biographies who sometimes teamed up with her husband, novelist and poet Dannie Abse, on a variety of editing collaborations. A 1946 graduate of the London School of Economics, she worked as a librarian for the London Financial Times for several years. After marrying in 1951, she remained at the Financial Times for two more years before devoting herself to raising a family that included three children. While her husband, who was also a physician, worked at a medical clinic, she often helped him by typing his manuscripts. Later, she was able to write and publish her own works, including the well-received biography John Ruskin: The Passionate Moralist (1980). She also worked with Dannie Abse on compiling two other works, Voices in the Gallery (1986) and The Music Lover's Literary Companion (1988). Her last publication was the anthology Letters from Wales (2000). She was returning from a poetry reading in Wales with her husband when they were involved in an automobile accident; she was killed, but Dannie Abse survived.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Independent (London, England), June 17, 2005, p. 44.

Times (London, England), June 25, 2005, p. 74.