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In Memoriam: Authors and Book Celebrities

Athena

By Athena
in Books

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cherrypj

cherrypj

Asimov. So disappointed that he was such a handsy, condescending creep. I should have totally seen it coming--the clues in his joke books and autobiographies are obvious. His work is outstanding, but I can't read them now, knowing what a DOB he was. 

 

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Ohiopirate02

Ohiopirate02

39 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Wasn't his son basically writing his books these last few years? He's not anywhere as good as his old man. RIP Dirk Pitt.

Clive has had a couple of "co-authors" the last few years for his different series.  I strongly suspect that when a  long-running book series suddenly has a second author name attached it means the original author is no longer writing the bulk of the book.  I do appreciate the transparency though.

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peacheslatour

peacheslatour

20 minutes ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

Clive has had a couple of "co-authors" the last few years for his different series.  I strongly suspect that when a  long-running book series suddenly has a second author name attached it means the original author is no longer writing the bulk of the book.  I do appreciate the transparency though.

Dirk  (teehee) Cussler worked for many years in finance before assisting his father in writing the latest novels in the Dirk Pitt series.

-From Wikipedia. I wonder if he will continue?

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Ohiopirate02

Ohiopirate02

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

Dirk  (teehee) Cussler worked for many years in finance before assisting his father in writing the latest novels in the Dirk Pitt series.

-From Wikipedia. I wonder if he will continue?

It will for any completed manuscripts.  Those are turned into the publisher months before release.  He has one book scheduled for release in April and another one slated for October.  How many after today is anyone's guess. 

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Calvada

Calvada

I don't read Cussler, but I hate it when they try to find someone to continue a series after an author has died.  My first experience with this was the Lawrence Sanders' Archy McNally books.  I read one by the new guy (not aware that it wasn't written by Sanders) and it was terrible.  In non-fiction, it also was very disappointing when William Manchester suffered a stroke and was unable to finish the final volume of his Churchill biography.  Paul Reid was ok, but he wasn't Manchester.  It's my great fear about Robert Caro and his amazing work on LBJ.  

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peacheslatour

peacheslatour

(edited)
2 hours ago, Calvada said:

I don't read Cussler, but I hate it when they try to find someone to continue a series after an author has died.  My first experience with this was the Lawrence Sanders' Archy McNally books.  I read one by the new guy (not aware that it wasn't written by Sanders) and it was terrible.  In non-fiction, it also was very disappointing when William Manchester suffered a stroke and was unable to finish the final volume of his Churchill biography.  Paul Reid was ok, but he wasn't Manchester.  It's my great fear about Robert Caro and his amazing work on LBJ.  

I didn't like Christopher Tolkien's attempts to continue his father's works.

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blackwing

blackwing

On 2/26/2020 at 3:59 PM, Ohiopirate02 said:

Clive has had a couple of "co-authors" the last few years for his different series.  I strongly suspect that when a  long-running book series suddenly has a second author name attached it means the original author is no longer writing the bulk of the book.  I do appreciate the transparency though.

Yes, I think it was really obvious that Clive hadn't written any of his books for years now.  The styles were completely different.  Dirk Cussler is a terrible writer.  The initial co-authored books were abysmal.  The latest Dirk Pitt book wasn't that bad, but still not good like when Clive wrote them.  We haven't seen a new Dirk Pitt book in several years now and there doesn't appear to be any on the schedule as of yet.  Each of Cussler's non-Pitt series has always had a co-author, and I've always thought the co-author pretty much wrote the book.  But you're correct, at least they were always transparent about it.

The one that really irritates me is James Patterson, the self-proclaimed "world's most prolific author".  Well, that's because he seemingly just slaps his name on books written by other people.  I'm convinced that struggling writers approach his Machine, agree to give up, say, 80% of the profits.  He reads through the plot summary and agrees and that's his contribution.  They put his name on the book, say that "James Patterson" has written yet another book, barely mention the co-author, and he gets another best-seller to his credit.  Co-author doesn't care because their measly take is still more than what they would have gotten if they hadn't approached him, which is zero.  His name opens doors.  I just wish they would be more honest about him taking credit for the book.  They could still market the book as written by Jane Smith, from the James Patterson Publishing House.

I've been wondering a long time about John Jakes, author of "North and South". He hasn't released a book in years, and I'm assuming he has retired due to his advanced years.  But I never found any information about him saying he was actually retiring.  I would assume he is still alive, but I am hoping that he has been secretly writing when he can and will release another book at some point and surprise everyone.

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nodorothyparker

nodorothyparker

Larry McMurtry, Novelist And Screenwriter Of The West, Has Died At Age 84

I somehow missed that in among all of his myth making and busting of the American West he also wrote the screenplay for Brokeback Mountain. And of course Lonesome Dove is one of a handful books that truly qualify as a Great American Novel. I bought my first paperback copy at a small-town drug store with babysitting money after the minseries had concluded and began a lifelong love affair. “They say you’re man of vision...”

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voiceover

voiceover

Just found out that Hilary Mantel passed.  And I’m sitting here, stunned and stupid, at the giant rip in my writerly consciousness.  That’s the only way I can describe the grief at this moment.  

I only read one thing she wrote.  It was a piece for Spectator magazine that was part of a collection of their best travel writing.  Years ago I stumbled across the book in an archaeologist’s dusty library, in the Middle Eastern city I called home.  “Last Months in Al Hamra” was autobiographical, reflecting on her time in Saudi Arabia as an expat oil worker’s wife; more specifically, about her friendship with a local woman who lived in their building (“You know what you have avoided knowing; it is not the country that is foreign, it is not the climate or the people, it is you.“).

She had me hooked from that second-paragraph line.  I knew her experience, even though it wasn’t precisely mine (I’d never been to Saudi, and I wasn’t a wife).  Such is a way a gifted writer can lure you in: yanking at that memory in you, making you see it as a *shared experience, even though you live different lives.

There was nothing dramatic in the article.  Just a quiet retelling of time spent with English lessons, poetry, and gossip.  But the end of their relationship, and the story, led to Mantel blurting out a shocking, uncomfortable truth about Life as a Foreigner:  

“I’d seen the world as some sort of exchange scheme for my ideals, but the world deserves better than this.  When you come across an alien culture you must not automatically respect it.  You must sometimes pay it the compliment of hating it.”

She switched on a light that forced me to see! but even as I squirmed at the words, I was relieved to read them.   It was a bow of sorts, tying together all the worst experiences I’d had during my time overseas.  She gave me the SENSE of what I’d been feeling.

Much later, I found out that Hilary had won the Shiva Naipaul Award for the story (loved that coincidence, as I’d discovered him in the same collected-essays book & adored his tetchy, Scroogelike attitude toward his fellow man).  Much, much later, I taught “Last Months…”  (referred to as “Last Morning” in her obit; nice try Spectator! I have the fucking original!) to my college students, as a terrific example of the “Aha!” moment in a successful paper when you reach the conclusion you weren’t expecting.

Holy crap, Hilary.  Flights of angels!  And thanks for changing my life, and my writing, in the best of all possible ways.  I carry you with me, always.

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blackwing

blackwing

On 4/13/2023 at 8:50 AM, Hanahope said:

Author Anne Perry dies at age 84

 

Imported from the "Book News" thread.

I've never read anything by Anne Perry, even though the historical setting and location seem right up my alley.  I just can't reconcile the fact that she helped to murder her friend's mother when she was 15.  Judging by her Wikipedia article, she doesn't seem to have expressed any remorse about it.  She only seems to regret that she was "found out", and then complains that she had built a life and now all of a sudden she is being treated unfairly because she was only 15 and wasn't allowed to speak at trial.

Is that accurate, or did she ever express any other remorse?  She did 5 years in prison and got out and got a new name and got to continue her life.  Was there ever any restitution to the friend's mother's family (parents or siblings)?

I find it particularly distasteful that she went into hiding when she got out of prison.  She seems to have been successful at crafting a new identify and having a successful career, until the attention surrounding the movie resulted in her exposure.  She seems to think she had "done her time" and that she deserved a new start.

 

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sugarbaker design

sugarbaker design

18 hours ago, blackwing said:

I've never read anything by Anne Perry, even though the historical setting and location seem right up my alley.

I started reading the Monk novels shortly before the story broke, had some qualms about continuing, but after listening to Perry tell her story, I felt comfortable continuing to follow the Monk novels.  Thanks to APs work ethic, I'm still reading the novels.

18 hours ago, blackwing said:

I just can't reconcile the fact that she helped to murder her friend's mother when she was 15. 

There were extenuating circumstances, she was 15.  She was heavily medicated at the time.  Her friend was threatening to commit suicide if they didn't commit the crime.

18 hours ago, blackwing said:

Judging by her Wikipedia article, she doesn't seem to have expressed any remorse about it.

One can't really judge another by a Wikipedia article.  Other more comprehensive sources have Perry quoted as saying about her prison time "It was there that I went down on my knees and repented," "That is how I survived my time while others cracked up. I seemed to be the only one saying, I am guilty and I am where I should be."

18 hours ago, blackwing said:

Was there ever any restitution to the friend's mother's family (parents or siblings)?

Financial restitution?  Is that common in murder cases?

18 hours ago, blackwing said:

I find it particularly distasteful that she went into hiding when she got out of prison.

She moved to Scotland with her mother and stepfather.  I don't know if that qualifies as going into hiding.  One of the contingencies of the 5 year sentence for both young women was that they never have contact again.  Moving out of the country seemed like a smart move.

18 hours ago, blackwing said:

She seems to have been successful at crafting a new identify and having a successful career, until the attention surrounding the movie resulted in her exposure. 

Her career didn't stop after the movie and subsequent publicity 1995. Her career continued to flourish despite the story breaking.

18 hours ago, blackwing said:

She seems to think she had "done her time" and that she deserved a new start.

The New Zealand courts felt the same way.

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Laura Holt

Laura Holt

I don't know if anyone here ever read Karen of With Love From Karen, but these were two books I read and re-read back in the day - they were about the Killilea family and dealing with Karen having cerebral palsy.  Anyway Karen died in 2020, her older sister, Marie died in 2021 and I just heard that Rory, the only brother died a few months ago.  Of course it should not be surprising that people now in their late 70s/early 80s have died but for me they will always be the children I read about and loved.

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Laura Holt

Laura Holt

On 6/15/2023 at 9:29 PM, Shelbie said:

I’ve read quite a few of Carol Higgins Clark’s books. Highly recommend if you’re in the mood for a fast and fun read.

I read a few of hers as my mother was a big fan of Mary Higgins Clark and moved on from her to Carol Higgins Clark.  66 may not be young but it's too young to die 😧.

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SusieQ

SusieQ

Hope this works. Here's a gift link to the New York Times article about Julie Garwood. I am unfamiliar with her work, but many of you loved her so I thought you might like to read this.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/21/books/julie-garwood-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=ym2bjqfxtI8noDQG8SEXY_OeODgYE0il7AfkTa_6JCGZu7nBeXb8GgMJA9pkXYp8PUEaZzlq50e-GLbMqYt6TgRN-PJtROj9_iB245Bg4_IKXgeJ3R1_Ll6ImAmSGNqLCaqSq1U429nthOlgG2UBulk0ZQz-OKyj2kvrxUHrjopsvcC-dAAMLyKyNx4lEk0XXz0OT1_7EGIXK11GLbOOwxHKtIGMx0ggslSBUuv5YP-dk6aezt5-mhDNIsR2MbQGeuqS_D__48NShlkN_mXxoLByf67Bda_lOK0Y08YWyG2-BV7ofnIFKmhl8HYlDFYjnjlXeG-_PlfOtw&smid=url-share

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