Saturday, November 10, 2007
Author Obit: Norman Mailer, 1923-2007
Iconic and stridently opinionated American author Norman Mailer died early this morning of kidney failure, about a month after surgery to remove scar tissue around his lungs. He became famous for The Naked And The Dead, published in 1948, a "World War II tale [that] is universally recognized as one of the best war novels to emerge from that conflict." He won Pulitzers in 1968 for an account of the 1967 Vietnam War protest march on the Pentagon, The Armies of the Night, and in 1979 for The Executioner's Song, a novel about self-confessed murderer Gary Gilmore. Mailer published dozens of novels (his latest, The Castle in the Forest, a fictionalised account of Hitler's childhood told by an underling of Satan's, came out this year), stories, essays, and newspaper articles, and he co-founded The Village Voice, an alternative newspaper in New York.
Obituaries and Remembrances:
- USA Today, the most interesting of the obits so far
- NYT (AP)
- BBC
- 2007 interview with Mailer at EW.com
Labels: american writer, author, deaths, mailer, norman mailer, novelist, obituary
Monday, September 17, 2007
RIP, Robert Jordan, 17 Oct. 1948 - 16 Sept. 2007
Robert Jordan (pseudonym of James Oliver Rigby, Jr.), author of the Wheel of Time fantasy series published in the 1990s and currently, and the Conan (the Barbarian) series, published primarily in the 1980s, died yesterday at age 58 from a rare form of cancer. He was working on the twelfth volume of the Wheel of Time series when he died. He also published a few other books, under pseudonyms including Reagan O'Neal and Jackson O'Reilly. (Photo credit: Jack Alterman)Labels: deaths, fantasy, fiction, jordan, obituary, wheel of time
Friday, September 07, 2007
Author Obit: Madeleine L'Engle, 29 Nov. 1918 - 6 Sept. 2007
Publisher's Weekly reported this morning: "Author Madeleine L'Engle died last night in Connecticut, at the age of 89 [actually, 88]. Best known for her 1963 Newbery Award winner A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels, L'Engle was the author of more than 60 books for adults and young readers."
The NYT has an obituary.
Labels: author, children's books, deaths, l'engle, obituary, spirituality
Monday, July 09, 2007
Maine Poet Philip Booth Dead (1925-2007)
Poet Philip Booth was born and died in Hanover, NH, but was also a long-time resident of Castine. He died on 2 July 2007 of complications from Alzheimer's disease at age 81. He published twelve books and won Guggenheim, Rockefeller and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships. The NYT has an obituary, as does the Bangor Daily News, which includes this quote from his wife, Margaret: "Castine was the only home that I think he ever felt was his natural place. ... He always wanted to be there. He loved the straightforwardness of the people and their affection toward him."Labels: deaths, maine author, maine poet, maine writer, obituary, philip booth, poet
RIP Kathleen Woodiwiss, 1939-2007
Bestselling historical romance author Kathleen Woodiwiss died
on 6 July at age 68 of cancer. She is considered by many to have created the 600-plus-page historical romance fiction novel. More here and here. Tuesday, July 03, 2007
New Skete Monk Dies
Father Laurence Mancuso, founding abbot of the Eastern Orthodox order of the Monks of New Skete (NY), well-known for breeding and training German shepherds, died on 10 June of injuries received in a fall. The monks have published two books on dog raising, How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend (1978) and The Art of Raising a Puppy (1991). Among suggested training 'techniques' are to cuddle, massage, and sleep with the dog.Obituaries in the Boston Globe, the NYT, the New York Sun, and the Albany Times Union.
Labels: animal training, deaths, dogs, new skete, obituary
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Author Obit: Terry Ryan (14 July 1946 - 16 May 2007)
Terry Ryan, whose bestselling memoir of her mother, Evelyn Ryan, became a popular movie, both titled The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, died yesterday at home in San Francisco at age 61, of cancer. She's the long-time partner of Pat Holt, whose Holt Uncensored is billed as 'A Candid Look at Books and the Book Industry.' Holt's site carries some of Ryan's columns.Labels: deaths, obituary, pat holt, terry ryan
Author Obit: Lloyd Alexander (30 Jan. 1924 - 17 May 2007)
Lloyd Alexander, who wrote The Chronicles of Prydain and won the Newbery Medal for The High King, died this morning while under hospice care at home. His wife of 62 years died two weeks ago, also at home. More here and here.Labels: deaths, fantasy, lloyd alexander, newbery, obituary, science fiction
Friday, May 11, 2007
Author Obit: Philip Craig
Philip R. Craig, author of a series of mystery novels featuring J.W. 'Jeff' Jackson, former Boston cop now living on Martha's Vineyard, died on 8 May at age 73, after a short illness. (What a great T-shirt in the photo!)Labels: deaths, mystery series, obituary, philip craig
Monday, April 23, 2007
Author Obit: David Halberstam (10 April 1934 – 23 April 2007)
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author and historian David Halberstam died today as passenger in a car crash in San Francisco. His books include Making of a Quagmire: America and Vietnam during the Kennedy Era, The Best and the Brightest, The Powers That Be, Summer of '49 about the Red Sox and Yankees, and Bill Belichick: The Education of a Coach.Labels: deaths, halberstam, historian, obituary
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Author Obit: Jill McGown (9 Aug 1947 - 6 April 2007)
Jill McGown, author of the British police procedural series starring Chief Inspector Lloyd and Sergeant (later DCI) Judy Hill, died on 6 April at age 59. More at The Rap Sheet and Mystery File. via Confessions.
Photo from bio page of Jill McGown's website, taken by her niece Katy.
Labels: British police procedurals, crime novels, deaths, jill mcgown, mystery series, obituary
Thursday, April 12, 2007
RIP Kurt Vonnegut, 1922 - 11 April 2007
American writer and icon Kurt Vonnegut died last night at age 84. More at Free Library Blog, including a fitting quote; and at Blogging for a Good Book and NPR, and a reprint of a 1974 interview with him at Editor and Publisher.
Update 4/13: Lots of Vonnegut links from Return of the Reluctant
Labels: american writer, deaths, obituary, vonnegut
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Author Obit: Michael Dibdin
The Rap Sheet reports that "Michael Dibdin, the 60-year-old author of an award-winning series starring Venetian detective Aurelio Zen (Back to Bologna), died" in Seattle, WA, last Friday, March 30, after a short illness." See also his extensive obituary in the Telegraph, which calls Zen "one of the quirkiest sleuths in crime fiction" and notes Dibdin's combination of a "flair for complex plotting and biting characterisation" with a "mastery of satire and the surreal."Labels: author, crime novels, crime series, deaths, dibdin, mystery series, obituary, set in venice
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Feb. 2007 Obituaries
Notable deaths in Feb. 2007, from The World Almanac E-Newsletter, include those of Whitney Balliett, longtime jazz critic for the New Yorker; Dennis Johnson, five-time All-Star NBA guard; Gian Carlo Menotti, opera composer (Amahl and the Night Visitors) and music festival organizer; Maurice Papon, French Nazi collaborator; BBC House of Cards star Ian Richardson; et al.Labels: almanac, celebrities, deaths, february 2007, obituary
Thursday, March 01, 2007
RIP Arthur Schlesinger, 15 Oct. 1917 - 28 Feb. 2007
Pulitzer Prize- and the National Book Award-winning historian Arthur Schlesinger died at age 89 of a heart attack last night: "Mr. Schlesinger saw life as a walk through history. He wrote that he could not stroll down Fifth Avenue without wondering how the street and the people on it would have looked a hundred years ago."
More at NYT (with links to reviews of seven of his histories/biographies), WaPo, the Guardian.
Labels: historian, obituary, schlesinger
