Rosanne Fitzgibbon, Rosie, died a couple of weeks ago, on August 20.  She was a highly respected editor and a beloved friend and colleague to so many in the Australian literary community, and it’s beyond a certainty that she’ll be missed by everyone who knew and cared for her.

I knew Rosie for many years and we’d usually meet up at Warana Writers’ Week committee meetings or at the festival itself, or any number of associated functions.  I was lucky enough to have Rosie champion and edit my second novel, Percussion, which was published by UQP in 2004.  She was instrumental in having my first novel, A Mortality Tale, republished alongside Percussion in a spanking new edition.  We worked together on the manuscript and Rosie was generous with her time, insights and advice.  The novel was the better for it.

Thank you is a small thing to say, but I know I share the thoughts of many who knew Rosie and who have much to thank her for.  She was someone who helped writers stay the course and she did it with a quiet grace and dignity that I’ll always remember.

As Woody Allen says, “There is no question there is an unseen world:  the question is, how far is it from mid-town and how late is it open?”  Not far, I suspect, and as late as you like.  Save us a table, Rosie.