26/05/2022
A TRIBUTE TO MARILYN MARTIN [died 22 May 2022]
by Robin Stuart-Clark
Over the last ten years or so, Marilyn Martin became an integral part of my working life in publishing.
We first met briefly at the launch of the late Angela Read’s Moses Tladi book at the South African National Gallery in 2010. That meeting led to a professional working relationship that grew over time into a friendship. It was not a social or familial friendship, but rather one of mutual trust.
Working with authors is invariably a difficult balance of expectations versus reality. Marilyn, however, was different: a consummate professional with an aesthetic sensibility that was flawless.
Marilyn knew what the publication needed, how it should be done and how it should look, but was always open to suggestion, never losing sight of who it was for. Yes, she could be a stickler for detail but always with good cause: it is such circumspection that elevates a book to the level of a definitive, authoritative work. Such was her integrity that second-best for Marilyn was simply not acceptable nor negotiable.
It’s been a rare privilege to work with someone like Marilyn. Every time we met, I learned something new, if not about art, then about her or me or life in general. I shall miss our chats, her interest, enthusiasm, and intellect, but I shan’t forget her chuckles.
The Print Matters Heritage team and I with my family offer our condolences to Marilyn’s daughter Catherine, her son John (Ziyaad) and wife Shereen, and grandchildren Leilah and Reyaaz. We have lost not just a parent, grandparent, friend, or colleague but also a dedicated and irreplaceable guardian of South African art and culture.
Ars longa, vita brevis.
Robin Stuart-Clark, 26 May 2022
