Tom Robbins

Author Tom Robbins Dies at 92

February 11, 2025 Linda L. Richards 0

Today I learned that counterculture novelist (though he would have cringed at the description) Tom Robbins has died. I learned it because a bunch of folks quoted an interview I did with him back in 2000. I returned to that piece today and read the interview. It was good. But it also missed some notes. He was brilliant, Robbins was. And it was difficult — then as now — to do him justice. So the […]

No Image

Beloved Journalist and Novelist Robert MacNeil Dead at 93

April 13, 2024 News Editor 0

Robert MacNeil, the journalist who brought news to PBS, died Friday “after a long illness” according to the PBS news representative who confirmed MacNeil’s death. It was the Canadian-born journalist’s coverage of the Watergate scandal that led to the first newscasts on PBS. He was the founding anchor of “PBS NewsHour,” first launched in 1975 as “The Robert MacNeil Report” and later renamed “The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour” when journalist Jim Lehrer was added to the lineup. […]

No Image

Russell Banks Dies at 82

January 9, 2023 News Editor 0

  Russell Banks, author of Cloudsplitter, The Sweet Hereafter, and many others, has died at age 82. Banks’ agent, Ellen Levine, confirmed his death from cancer on January 8th. Remembering Banks on Twitter, the great documentarian Ken Burns remarked that, “Russell Banks was one of our greatest writers, with a keen understanding of how space and race influenced our history and literature, something he also said about Mark Twain in this clip from our film […]

No Image

Julie and Julia Author Dead at 49

November 1, 2022 News Editor 0

The writer and food blogger who helped us rediscover Julia Child has died. Julie Powell, the author of Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen, was just 49. Powell died at home in Olivebridge, in upstate New York. Her husband has said that the cause of her death was cardiac arrest. A final Tweet, in the context of hindsight, is heartbreaking. “So I woke up with something that’s literally Black Hairy […]

No Image

Murder She Wrote Star Dead at 96

October 11, 2022 News Editor 0

Angela Lansbury, best known as the star of the long-running CBS series Murder She Wrote, has died. She was 96 years old. As a young starlet, Lansbury featured in many important Hollywood films. Her career began in 1944. From the New York Times: The English-born daughter of an Irish actress, she was just 18 when she landed her first movie role, as Charles Boyer’s cheeky Cockney servant in the thriller “Gaslight” (1944), a precocious debut […]

No Image

Diplomat and Author Madeline Albright Dead at 83

March 24, 2022 Linda L. Richards 0

The splendid American diplomat and author Madeline Albright has died. She was 83. The Washington Post remembers Secretary Albright with affection: Madeleine K. Albright, who passed away on Wednesday, shaped a generation of foreign policy leaders — gently and usually with a smile. She knew every senior official, mentored many of them, and managed to say a cheery word even to people who took “dour” as a compliment. The New York Times reports that the […]

No Image

Joan Didion Dies at 87

December 26, 2021 News Editor 0

American writer Joan Didion (Slouching Towards Bethlehem, The Year of Magical Thinking) has died. She was 87. Didion died last Thursday of complications due to Parkinson’s disease, at her home in Manhattan. Didion was the author of five novels, 14 works of non-fiction, a play based on her book, The Year of Magical Thinking, and six screenplays, mostly co-wrtten with her late husband. John Gregory Dunne. Many beautiful words have been spilled since Didion’s death […]

No Image

Anne Rice Dies at 80

December 12, 2021 News Editor 0

The great Anne Rice, author of Interview With the Vampire and many other books, has died at the age of 80. Her son and sometimes co-author, the novelist Christopher Rice, reported on Facebook that his mother had died of complications from stroke. The immensity of our family’s grief cannot be overstated. As my mother, her support for me was unconditional — she taught me to embrace my dreams, reject conformity and challenge the dark voices […]

No Image

Beverly Cleary, Creator of Ramona Quimby, Dead at 104

March 27, 2021 Linda L. Richards 0

Beloved children’s author and former librarian, Beverly Cleary, died in Carmel, California on March 27th. She was 104. No cause of death has been published. From a press release HarperCollins sent out about Cleary’s death. Beverly Cleary’s first book, Henry Huggins, was published in 1950, immediately setting a standard for realistic children’s fiction. More than forty published books later, Beverly Cleary has become beloved by generations of children. Mrs. Cleary has also inspired authors, including […]

No Image

Noted Booklover and Bestseller Larry McMurtry Has Died

March 26, 2021 Linda L. Richards 0

American novelist Larry McMurtry has died. The beloved and prolific novelist, accomplished screenwriter and antiquarian bookseller was 84. McMurtry was the author of more than 30 novels including Lonesome Dove, The Last Picture Show and Terms of Endearment, all of which were adapted for the screen. He was also the co-writer of the screenplay for Brokeback Mountain, based on a short story by Annie Proulx. The 2005 film earned eight Academy Award nominations with three […]