Rupert Heath, founder of eponymous literary agency and Dean Street Press, dies 'unexpectedly'

Rupert Heath, the founder of the eponymous Rupert Heath Literary Agency and Dean Street Press, died unexpectedly of heart failure on 6th March 2023 aged 54.

He is survived by his two children, George and Annabel, their mother, Amy, his parents, Mike and Frances, and his sister Victoria.

His sister Victoria Eade, who worked with Heath at Dean Street Press since 2015, said: “A love of all things cultural led [Heath] through a rich life, travelling the world and embracing the challenge to adapt and learn. He also had a passion for music. He sang, played guitar, banjo, ukulele and was a proficient drummer."

Born into a military family, Heath attended Sherborne School (where he was head of the Oscar Wilde appreciation society) before gaining honours in Art History at the Courtauld Institute. He began his publishing career as an editor at Usborne Books and also worked as a commissioning editor at Pan MacMillan before founding The Rupert Heath Literary Agency in 2001.

In 2006, he married professor of modern history, Amy. Their union resulted in two children, George, 16, and Annabel, 13. After an amicable divorce in 2018 he went on to marry fashion expert Amanda, whose life ended tragically of lung cancer in January 2023.

In 2014 indie publisher Dean Street Press was born. In order to fulfil a personal mission to "uncover and revitalise good books", [Heath] began republishing little-known and rare golden age authors, principally murder mysteries, in partnership with Curtis Evans and later, Steve Barge. He also tackled non-fiction novels of the same era, including Hollywood biographies, memoirs and pop culture. In 2015 he brought in Scott Thompson to reissue 20th century women’s fiction, under the Furrowed Middlebrow imprint, named after Scott’s blog.

He had an original mind from his very youngest days and was a self-starter. His endlessly inventive book covers, all created himself, were prefigured by his sending a birthday book, aged six, to his father with a re-imagined version of The Wind in the Willows.

His sister Victoria added: “Always happy to delight and entertain, his kindness, generosity, charismatic charm and wickedly dry sense of humour always ensured the people he worked with fell under his spell. He will be greatly missed by family, friends and colleagues alike.”

His son George said: “My Dad was a successful entrepreneur and a kind, gentle, strong, smart and amazing man.” The family are inviting donations to the British Heart Foundation in his memory here.