Hilary Hart has just stepped down from her editorial roles after 17 years with Mac Keith Press – almost one third of its existence. During that time she has been a key influence on the evolution and development of the Press, as well as its day-to-day working. This is to express our appreciation and gratitude for all she has done. Before joining the Press, Hilary worked as a researcher with Martin Bax on a long-term project on the health needs and development of young children, following which she became a general practitioner, providing community care in all areas of medicine. Then in 1997 she joined the Press as Associate Editor and helped Martin Bax and Michael Pountney run DMCN and the book programme. This involved all aspects of the work of the Press, such as assessing, refereeing, and deciding on papers, and standing in for Martin when he was away, but her other role was to proofread all accepted papers, as well as the books. This she did with an eagle eye which many authors strongly appreciated – and readers too: many colleagues have commented on the high standards of the published material in terms of clarity of writing, use of grammar, and the absence of errors. When Martin retired in 2004 she increased her role at the Press, both as an Editor of the journal and by taking on commissioning responsibility for the book programme. She also had a new and very inexperienced editorial colleague to coach, which she did adroitly, calmly, with assurance, subtlety, humour, and intelligence. I rapidly came to look forward to our meetings and discussions at the office as some of the high spots of the month. In 2004 the Press published four books a year as the Clinics in Developmental Medicine series. This was becoming difficult to manage: there were concerns that that number was no longer achievable and the economic viability of book publishing was also in doubt, with other medical publishers leaving the field. However, over the last ten years Hilary has proved this prognosis wrong, building the book series into a successful and important programme, with an eclectic mix of specialist titles, major texts, and practical handbooks across the field of childhood disability. All these have either originated from or at least been supported through conception, gestation, and delivery by Hilary – and of course have still been read by her from cover to cover. At the same time Hilary has effectively been the journal's co-Editor, although with characteristic modesty she always refused to allow this to be formally recognised. The journal has also developed, with submissions rising from under 300 to over 800 a year, the inclusion of Commentaries, mostly commissioned by Hilary, and a rising Impact Factor from below 1.8 to this year's highest ever of 3.29. Hilary has been involved in the review and discussion of every submitted manuscript. Through this many authors and colleagues have come to know, like, and respect Hilary. She has been a popular figure at meetings such as the annual American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine conference. Her style, tact, and sense of fun have led to many friends and admirers. We will all miss her. Reader, to see her work, look around you.