It is with great sadness that friends and colleagues from across the LSE share news of the death of Anne Shepherd, on Thursday 6 June 2024.
Anne joined LSE in 2002, and until her retirement last autumn, she managed the Editorial Office of Population Studies, deftly overseeing all aspects of the day-to-day production of the journal. She also served as the Secretariat for the Population Investigations Committee (PIC) and the British Society for Population Studies (BSPS). Anne’s unwavering and unparalleled commitment to her work has left an indelible mark.
Anne’s extremely competent, extremely knowledgeable, and no-nonsense approach to all she did, earned her much respect and admiration, both within and outside of the School. Countless members of the demographic research community who encountered Anne as PIC-funded MSc students, BSPS council members, authors, reviewers, and editors will have fond memories of her inimitably patient, good-humoured – but uncompromising and occasionally irreverent – manner and approach. She will be dearly missed by everyone who had the pleasure of working with her.
I met Anne many years ago when she took over the journal Population Studies and the Populations Investigations Committee (PIC) in the early 2000’s. Our publisher at the time, T&F, asked if I could help her settle in. This was to be the beginning of a long friendship.
She was a brilliant match for her new role. Among other things, I introduced Anne to ALPSP (the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers) to provide her with a resource to expand her knowledge and understanding in this new aspect of her publishing life. We frequently attended conferences, seminars and lectures on highly relevant issues facing journals that offered great opportunities but also simultaneously revealing potential and actual threats within the rapid advances taking place at that time. She relished her new role. Her past experience of managing a busy bookshop was immense and gave her invaluable knowledge of the business side of running concerns. This stood her in great stead for restructuring practices to future proof both the journal and PIC against the challenging times that lay ahead.
An often uncompromising figure she was well-respected within the publishing community. Her Yorkshire, no nonsense approach, belied her warmth and intelligence. Her ability to grasp frequently complex concepts being explored within the fast moving world faced by the publishing community and then go on to apply them to the benefit of the journal and the PIC was remarkable.
Frequent lunches and expeditions – mostly filled with laughter, wine and very good food – provided a welcome release from a very busy worklife. Chocolate in any form also played a hugely important role…. Conversations spanned so many subjects: our joint love of our gardens and their wildlife visitors, politics, the many books we’d consumed, American football, the scurrilous rumours frequently delivered by Anne with great relish and, following her recent retirement, featured both her visits to places available on the Open Gardens scheme and the many University of the Third Age activities attended. So many more had been planned for in the future but those, sadly, were not to be realised. One of the more notable outings we had was visiting the David Hockney exhibition at the Royal Academy entitled A Bigger Picture. The artwork comprised images of Anne’s beloved Yorkshire composed on his IPad. I recall clearly Anne standing transfixed in front of one particular landscape which I think was entitled ‘Garroby Hill’? The only comment she made was ‘Oh, I so love this view… It was my favourite as a child…’ It was the look of wonder and delight as she gazed at the scene, so obviously moved by memories, that remains with me. It was an wonderful insight into an intensely private, intelligent, brave and lovely friend who I will miss so dearly.
Jacquie Gauntlett
(British Journal of Sociology, retired)
Anne was a wonderful colleague who became a true friend. She was always open-minded to new initiatives, ideas and possibilities we would bring to her as a publishing house. She would appraise their merits against the needs and requirements of her Journal’s authors, and the PIC, and take on board only what passed the test!
Over the years Anne proved invaluable to me, providing honest and fair feedback about what was and wasn’t working “client-side”. She would never pull punches when change was needed, but equally was generous with her praise.
She also provided a sounding board as we introduced new systems and processes. The final iterations were better for the time and effort given.
Anne showed a real interest in all the members of the publishing team she had contact with, whatever their role, and was spoken of with great respect in return.
I recall with fondness and trepidation the formal and less formal meetings at the LSE, and lively conversation over good “publishing lunches”. Anne would always ensure we were properly briefed beforehand leading to productive and successful meetings all around. She enabled a true partnership with her publisher whilst knowing the PIC’s interests were paramount.
Over the years, a working relationship turned to friendship and towards the end of our careers I had the privilege of getting to know Anne more closely on a personal level. We made (with Jacquie) Anne’s first ever trip to Kew Gardens, and I was pleased to visit her at home and in her local neighbourhoods. Anne was a kind, warm, funny and at times irreverent friend, and I am fortunate to have known her.
Tracy Roberts
Former Publisher, Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group
I met dear Anne Shepherd in 2022, during the Annual Conference of the BSPS.
I was living in Brazil, a low-income grad student. Ms. Shepherd and I exchanged many emails discussing my participation at the Conference, my need of a bursary and she was always extremely kind and sweet. I think she may have liked me too, because she told me in one of our messages “Nice and polite students like you always get rewards and benefits in life, and here too”.
I was really glad when I had the chance to finally meet her in person, during that Conference in Winchester. I will always remember her pretty smile and kind eyes. She was so humble and down-to-heart, that when I told her “You’re the kindest person ever, an angel on Earth!”, she replied “Thank you, but some people might disagree!” Hahahaha. Oh dear Ms. Shepherd, nobody can disagree.
She was well aware of my interest in giving an Oral Presentation at the Conference, even though my research had not been officially accepted.
But when she noticed that one lecturer had cancelled their Oral Presentation on the very last day of the Conference, she immediately told me the news, and advised me to talk with the strand organiser. I discussed with him the possibility of giving an Oral Presentation, filling that gap in the Programme. My plea was succesful, thanks to Ms. Sheperd’s intercession.
You’re fantastic, Ms. Anne Shepherd. Thank you very much for helping a young and poor Brazilian student you knew nothing about back then.
You’ll be in our hearts.
I met Ann at the first BSPS conference I went to a dozen years ago. And meeting Ann again at the next one was something I always looked forward to. If I had a question Ann had the answer. Wonderful.
I met Anne 10 years ago at BSPS conference and we had lovely conversations about our research interests. Anne helped and encouraged me when I joined BSPS and wanted to get involved as an early career researcher. Anne was a wonderful, extremely knowledgeable, generous and kind colleague and she had such a great sense of humor. She will be missed very very much!
RIP, Anne.
Your generous support and thoughtful service,
touched people far beyond the LSE.
Anne had a great knack of forging community. She took a keen interest in students and early career researchers and supported them to feel connected in the wider population studies field. She was strong in her support of individual effort towards citizenship – recognising contributions publicly and effusively. I first met Anne as a PhD student at the BSPS conference. She clearly knew all the students attending by name, paper title and affiliation, and she really made us welcome. She has continued to offer support and advice at a distance over the next two decades – always making clever suggestions regarding events and outputs and advising on connecting with others. She was a hard worker, with a wonderful turn of phrase, a clear eye for strategy and a great personal warmth. I am very sorry she is no longer with us.
Anne’s warmth, intelligence and scurrilous good humour will be missed. I first met Anne when she started working at the LSE, and from the outset – with a raised eyebrow and a look – she established her unwillingness to suffer fools gladly. Anne’s care, attention and professionalism – especially for earlier career folks – was outstanding. Her careful and unwavering contributions to organisation of BSPS conferences, funding for students and LMIC scholars and to making people feel part of the community, are cherished.
Anne was someone I looked forward to catching up with at BSPS conferences. She was a great wit and always had a good story to tell about her latest exploits in finding a suitable venue for BSPS. She was a great source of knowledge and ensured that BSPS progressed and built on past experience. I hope she realised how much everyone appreciated her dedication, although she didn’t like being in the limelight. She will be missed.
I first had an extended conversation with Anne at the end of a BSPS conference. We both felt drained and our brains were unwinding. I mentioned I was heading up to Bridlington to visit my mother living in a care home there. She then talked about Bridlington being her hometown. We continued the conversations, often at the end of subsequent BSPS conferences. BSPS conferences will not be the same without her, especially sharing wearily at the end!
I knew Anne through the PIC and through the BSPS. At all times her commitment, knowledge and passion were immense; and, to be absolutely honest, the discipline of demography would not be in anything like its current excellent shape. At all times Anne was a real pleasure to work with and we will all miss her greatly
Anne was always on the ball, constantly teasing, and constantly practical. She was a support to so many young and old British Society for Population Studies members who ventured to get involved in any way to work on its activities, and a friend to many of us.
Personally I counted Anne a good reason to put myself out for BSPS activities, she made the duties so much better than bearable. One of the great and the good.
I am sad to miss her funeral, I’m sure it will have been a great occasion to remember Anne and to remember as an occasion. Love to all her family.
Anne made an enormous contribution to the UK demography world through her tireless work for the British Society for Population Studies, the PIC and through that the journal Population Studies. She was always great to work with due to her informed and irreverent take on all that was going on. Such a shame she will not enjoy a well deserved post work life, she will be remembered with thanks by very many in the UK and elsewhere.
Emily Grundy
Anne was always a pleasure to work with, being highly efficient and with a friendly but no-nonsense approach. I first met her annually at BSPS conferences and then slightly more frequently as a council member. After starting to work more closely with Anne on the journal in 2016, I still only met her in person once a year at the conference, but we conversed by email almost daily.
Our email chats became more frequent during the pandemic, touching more on personal matters, such as Hattie the cat, as well as humorous tales of who or what had wound Anne up on that day! Her unusual turns of phrase and words I’d not heard of (either she invented them or perhaps they were Yorkshire idiosyncrasies) always made for an entertaining email exchange. I miss those conversations.
As others have already commented, Anne’s contribution to the thriving UK demography scene, although often in the background rather than the limelight, should definitely not be underestimated.
I was very sorry to learn that Anne Shepherd had died recently.
She worked incredibly hard for BSPS and its annual conference and in her role as editorial manager for the journal Population Studies. The BSPS conferences she organized were the world’s best value for money, attracting attendees from across numerous countries.
Having a short chat with Anne at conferences was always a pleasure.
She always provided useful guidance to me a reviewer of papers for Population Studies.
She tolerated oldsters like me who still used cheques to pay their annual dues and conference fees, despite the additional work.
I was deeply saddened to learn that Anne had passed away. Without Anne, her organisational skills, and her unique sense of humour, BSPS will not be the same.
Talking with Anne in the conference lobby was always an intellectual pleasure of a very high calibre. In this way, we have discovered several shared interests and passions: in 2013, following Anne’s idea, this has led to organising a special BSPS session on Demography of Armed Conflict, with a distinguished invited speaker (Helge Brunborg). Recently, I missed a whole conference session because we got carried away by a discussion about the challenges of running academic journals and the ways to counter questionable publishing practices.
I will remember Anne as someone with very broad interests and knowledge, razor-sharp intellect and wit, but also a lot of kindness and generosity. She will be dearly missed.
Such a wonderful woman!
Over the years as a BSPS member, you slowly realised that Anne knew exactly who was who, who would be good to do certain tasks, and kept BSPS running smoothly. You also realised how much she did when circumstances meant she missed a conference; it was hard work covering all those little problems that needed sorting! Anne, you will be missed.
I will miss Anne. It was already sad to see her going from BSPS but I was really hoping she would be able to enjoy retirement and finally do some gardening. I have known her for almost two decades and got to work even more closely in the last five years through PIC and having to fight the LSE admin machine. She was the only I have seen to scare them off. With a great professionalism, dry sense of humour and attachment to her work, she has managed to reshape the running of PIC, Pop Studies and BSPS. The face of demography in the UK has definitely been shaped by her outstanding work and I know for a fact many of us consistently relied on her for wisdom. The two things which will stay with me above all will be her way to deal with annoyances–she would take no prisoners- but above all her lovely giggle when laughing .
Anne was a legend. She taught me so much about demography, and what it means to be a good demographer, and was a constant source of support for so many of us who have grown older (and maybe wiser) as part of the BSPS family. I have so many great memories of Anne, but will never forget all the hours we spent stuffing hundreds of A4 wallet folders with conference programmes (and forms, journal adverts etc – in the good old days when paper was king)… a job that was only enjoyable because of the sheer amount that Valeria Cetorelli and I learnt about the hidden histories of demography (and the people who we were citing). Always discreet, but always honest and down to earth. Missing you already. Thanks Anne!