Claudia Mason obituary

Claudia Mason on her houseboat. A talented cook, she created memorable meals in her tiny galley kitchen Photograph: none

My mother, Claudia Mason, who has died aged 71, led a life full of creativity and love for the written word.

At the age of 21, having moved to London after graduation in 1973, and with very little retail and no management experience, but a huge love of literature and art, she became the manager of the Zwemmers Oxford University Press bookshop on Charing Cross Road.