Though Knopf editor Judith Jones retired officially in 2011, her legacy will continue. It was Jones who rescued Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl from the rejection pile and who championed Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking… Continue Reading
There has been an outpouring of love for playwright, actor and novelist Sam Shepard since his death due to complications from Lou Gehrig’s Disease was announced on the morning of July 31st. The lights on Broadway will dim for one… Continue Reading
Canadian author and journalist Richard Wagamese (Indian Horse, One Native Life) died at home in Kamloops earlier today. He was 61. From CBC Books: Wagamese was the author of 15 books, ranging from poetry to fiction to memoir to young… Continue Reading
Bridges of Madison County author Robert Waller has died of complications from the cancer he had been battling. He was 77 years old. From People: The novel, which Waller wrote in 11 days, tells the story of a National Geographic… Continue Reading
On his web site, Richard Adams’ family gently eulogizes the 96-year-old who passed away on Christmas Eve with a brief passage from Watership Down, his best known work. It fits beautifully. And it resonates: It seemed to Hazel that he… Continue Reading
Ending what has been, for many, a terrible year on a truly awful note, this morning we lost a princess. Not only was actor and writer Carrie Fisher perhaps best known and loved for her role as the Star Wars… Continue Reading
John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit Earth, died today. He was 95 years old. The New York Times remembers him amply and beautifully: John Glenn, a freckle-faced son of Ohio who was hailed as a national hero and… Continue Reading
That last one was a very difficult week. One many of us would forget, if we could. The results of the U.S. presidential election was enough to make most of the free world reel. And then, just when we though… Continue Reading
In a sad week for crime fiction, the mystery world lost three prolific and much honored authors: Iowa-based Ed Gorman (The Poker Club, Graves Retreat, Wolf Moon), Tennessee-born Clark Howard (City Blood, Quicksilver, Brothers in Blood) and Seattle resident Larry… Continue Reading
Noted Canadian-Barbadian author Austin Clarke (The Polished Hoe, Growing Up Stupid Under the Union Jack) died last Sunday. He was 81. From CBC Books: Clarke was born in St. James, Barbados, on July 26, 1934. He moved to Canada in… Continue Reading