My friend David Elliott, who has died aged 79, spent 60 years selling, writing and publishing books. David became a well-known figure, supporting and advising Naim Attallah, the owner of Quartet Books and the Women’s Press, but is best remembered as a facilitator to other writers. He was a great editor: intuitive, educated and professional, he enabled many authors to raise their game.
Educated at Wanstead county high school, David went on to train as an art teacher at Goldsmiths College in the 1960s. Before finishing, he fell in love with selling books, eventually leading him to run Claude Gill Books on Oxford Street and manage bookshops for Words & Music. In 1976 he was introduced to Attallah who had acquired Quartet Books. David joined as sales director, later becoming editorial director, and began a wider collaboration that lasted nearly 50 years.
