Roberta BUTLER

1949 - 2017

BUTLER, Roberta J. Roberta J. Butler, Ph.D., a teacher, editor, author, and publishing executive, died June 3 2017 in Northamptonshire, UK. She was 67. She lived in the village of Shutlanger, near Towcester, and died at home from complications due to Motor Neurone Disease, which had been diagnosed in 2016. Known to all as Robbie, she was accomplished, passionate, generous, and beloved. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, USA in 1949, she lived in San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, and Midlands in the UK, gathering friends wherever she went. She loved cats, gardening (especially peonies), her nieces and nephew, and her seven godchildren. A voracious reader and a great critical thinker, she held strong positions on the impact of humans on the environment, and on the responsibility of government to protect and serve its citizens. In 1991, Robbie married Matt White, a photographer. They lived in Highgate, North London, and had a second home in Towcester, Northamptonshire, which became their primary home in 1996. Robbie and Matt bought a second home in Sagonne, France in 2006. Robbie graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor's degree in English. Upon completing a masters degree, she taught middle- and high-school English while earning her doctorate in English Education. As an editor and reading/language arts consultant for Houghton Mifflin publishing company, Robbie worked with teachers and students around the western USA while living in San Francisco and Los Angeles. In 1985, Robbie moved to London to conduct workshops for teachers and students in the UK, Europe and the Mediterranean. In 1990, she began working for various publishing houses in the UK, including Walker Books, Dorling Kindersley, and Quarto Children's Books, working in marketing, selling foreign rights and dealing with special sales to museums, book clubs, schools, and charities, as well as retail outlets. Robbie was editor of a quarterly magazine for Garden Organic, an environmental charity, and has written more than 40 books and other materials for pupils, teachers, and parents, and 17 books just for children, published in multiple languages. Robbie will be buried in Olney, Buckinghamshire, UK on Friday June 23, 2017. In lieu of flowers, please send a donation to the Motor Neurone Disease Association via John White Funeral Directors in Towcester, Northamptonshire, UK.