Morton L. Janklow, the New York literary agent who struck megadeals with publishers for best-selling authors, ghostwritten celebrities, several presidents, and a pope, and who influenced international book lists and the reading habits of millions for decades, died on May 25 at his home in Water Mill, NY. He was 91.

Mr. Janklow represented Barbara Taylor Bradford, Sidney Sheldon, Danielle Steel, Judith Krantz. His agency also represented Presidents Richard M. Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan, as well as Pope John II, whose collection of essays, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, was published around the world in 1994. Representing moneymakers as well as literary talents, Janklow & Nesbit (his professional partner Lynn Nesbit), eventually established a client list of 1,100 novelists and nonfiction writers, including the winners of Pulitzer Prizes, National Book Awards, Academy Awards and other accolades. Many were well-known politicians, entertainers, historians, journalists and leaders of the arts and sciences.