Valerie Eliot husband's work "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats". This became the hit Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "Cats". With her portion of the proceeds Valerie Eliot established "Old Possum's Practical Trust" – a literary registered charity – and funded the T. S. Eliot Prize. In late 2009, the second volume of Eliot's letters was published. The third volume, edited by Valerie Eliot and John Haffenden, followed in July 2012. She donated the £15,000 annual prize money for the T. S. Eliot Prize. Valerie Eliot died on 9 November 2012 at her home in London. Valerie Eliot Esmé Valerie Eliot (née Fletcher;
Cats (musical) Suddenly, after they finish, they are caught off-guard by the rest of the Cats, who scold them for trying to scare them to death. Finally, the Jellicle patriarch, Old Deuteronomy, arrives ("Old Deuteronomy") before the tribe. He is a large old Cat that "has lived many lives" and "buried nine wives (And more, I am tempted to say—ninety-nine)". He is the Cat who chooses which Jellicle Cat will go to the Heaviside Layer every year. While the patriarch is welcomed by his loyal subjects, the Cats put on a play for Old Deuteronomy, called "The Awefull Battle of the Pekes