MONTREAL -- Florence Richler, the wife and editor of acclaimed Montreal author Mordecai Richler, has died.
She passed away Friday, at 90 years of age, from sepsis, according to Bill Brownstein, columnist at The Montreal Gazette, who was close with the Richlers.
Florence was charming and kind, Brownstein said.
"She was a very lovely lady," he said. "She was very supportive [of Mordecai]. She was his first editor. She read everything before anybody else did. She was a really gracious lady."
Florence was an adopted child who grew up in working-class Pointe-St-Charles, according to a 2017 article in The Walrus written by her son, Noah.
She became a model for Eaton's and Chatelaine in Toronto, Noah wrote. Later, Coco Chanel and the House of Dior in Paris.
When the pair met, Mordecai was set to be married the next day, and Florence was already married--to Mordecai's friend, Stanley Mann, Noah wrote.
Mordecai, however, was smitten.
They later divorced their spouses and married each other.
She supported Mordecai as he wrote renowned novels, which included The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz and Barney's Version. He died in 2001, at age 70.
"[Florence] was just a gracious, lovely person and was definitely Mordecai's soulmate," Brownstein said.
