Margaret Clark (1955-2025)

On Saturday, 15 March 2025, after a brief illness, longtime Star Trek book editor Margaret Clark passed away. After returning home from a long trip overseas, I only learned of Margaret’s malady and resulting death today. The unexpected news came as a shock, and I am deeply saddened by the loss.

Another editor at publishing house Simon & Schuster, Marco Palmieri, introduced Margaret and me more than twenty years ago. Although it would be a little while before she and I worked together, Margaret and I hit it off immediately. Both native New Yorkers, we shared a sensibility and an attitude about the world—skeptical, jaded, and caustic, to be sure, but also expansive, inclusive, and welcoming.

In the years that followed, Margaret would both acquire and edit almost a dozen of my Star Trek novels. At every step of the process—from initial pitch to narrative outline, from first draft to last, through typesetting, copyediting, and proofreading—she demonstrated her trenchant skills not only as an editor, but also as a valuable artistic partner. My work only ever improved under Margaret’s watchful gaze and well-honed editorial abilities. Further, she proved an exceptional steward of literary Star Trek, somebody who truly cared about the ideas and ideals that the franchise embodied. Readers and writers of Trek fiction and nonfiction owe her a debt of gratitude for always respecting the material and consistently striving for excellence.

Whenever I needed to speak with Margaret for professional reasons, even when I only required from her the answer to a simple yes-or-no question, I would always allow at least an hour for the call. Knowledgeable and inquisitive about the universe, with a distinct but receptive Weltanschauung, she could seamlessly start or follow any tangent and expound on any number of subjects. During our many conversations, she never lacked for words (not that I have ever been described as laconic myself).

In the acknowledgements of my works that Margaret edited, her name always topped the list of those who provided me assistance and inspiration. Because of the length of my novel Raise the Dawn, my acknowledgements had to be omitted from the published book. Margaret herself read them, for which I am grateful, but I would also like to share the first paragraph here.

Margaret Clark remains a stalwart force in my life. Over the years, Margaret’s keen editorial skills have taught me much, and my writing has certainly benefited from her professional influences. She has been a tireless friend to the Star Trek literary line, for which I thank her both as a writer and as a reader. Fortunately for me, Margaret has also become my friend. I find it both easy and enjoyable to wile away minutes or hours with her, discussing issues great and small, serious and not. Thank you for everything, Margaret.

More than simply acknowledging Margaret's contributions to my work, I also dedicated Raise the Dawn to her. That opportunity marks one of the great privileges of being a novelist. It allows a writer to publicly identify an important person in their life, and I feel fortunate indeed to have been able to do that with Margaret.

Margaret and I last worked together on the final Star Trek novel I wrote, Original Sin. In the years since, she and I kept in touch regularly, not because we ever expected to share another project, but because we were pals. I have missed Margret’s many editorial talents, but I will miss her even more as a friend.