His wide-ranging work, including books, speeches and regular appearances on NPR, celebrated cowpokes, feed lots and life on the range.
Category: Books and Literature
George Lamming, Who Chronicled the End of Colonialism, Dies at 94
Born in Barbados, he was among the last of a generation of writers who traced the Caribbean’s transition to independence.
Joel Whitburn, Tireless Researcher of Music Charts, Dies at 82
His numerous books delved deeply into the Billboard charts, developing what an admirer called “the de facto history of recorded music.”
A.B. Yehoshua, Israeli Writer, Dies at 85
In 11 novels, three short-story collections and four plays, he tackled a variety of narrative forms and delved into knotty and uncommon subjects.
John Merriman, Eminent Historian of France, Is Dead at 75
An indefatigable researcher, he wrote books about terrorists, anarchists, leftists and ordinary people and spent a lot of time in France’s archives.
Peter Lamborn Wilson, Advocate of ‘Poetic Terrorism,’ Dies at 76
His concept of a “temporary autonomous zone” became an inspiration for protests like Occupy Wall Street and for gatherings like Burning Man.
Jim Murphy, Who Wrote Vivid Histories for the Young, Dies at 74
His books on the Chicago fire, an 18th-century plague and wars drew on first-person accounts to re-create dramatic times.
Marvin Josephson, Who Scored Big Deals for Stars, Dies at 95
He started small as a talent agent in 1955, with an unknown kiddie TV performer who would soon become Captain Kangaroo.
Walter Abish, Daring Writer Who Pondered Germany, Dies at 90
In provocative, sometimes linguistically playful experimental fiction, a Vienna-born American traced the complex interplay of modern Germany and its Nazi past.
Dervla Murphy, Irish Travel Writer Who Preferred Her Bike, Dies at 90
A curious, intrepid loner, she famously went from Dunkirk through Europe and then to Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India — mostly on two wheels.
Morton L. Janklow, Agent for Best-Selling Authors, Dies at 91
A bold, risk-taking negotiator, he numbered among his clients Danielle Steel, Judith Krantz, three presidents and Pope John Paul II.
Amanda Claridge, Archaeologist of Ancient Rome, Dies at 72
Her 1998 guide took a detailed look at the city and its many ruins, examining who built what and why.
Robert Goolrick Dies at 73; Became a Successful Novelist Late in Life
Being fired as an advertising executive freed him to write a blistering memoir about his Southern family and an erotic novel that became a best
Elspeth Barker, Author of a Beloved if Unsung Novel, Dies at 81
Her “O Caledonia,” a Gothic coming-of-age story set in Scotland, has been called “one of the best least-known novels of the 20th century.”
Katsumoto Saotome, Who Preserved Stories of Tokyo Firebombing, Dies at 90
He compiled six books of survivors’ recollections of the 1945 attack. He also founded (without government support) a memorial museum.
Larry Woiwode, Who Wrote of Family, Faith and Rural Life, Dies at 80
Raised in North Dakota and rural Illinois, he was a literary star in New York City in the 1970s. But he left the limelight to
Henry Scott Stokes Dies at 83; Opened Japan to English Speakers
A biographer of the nationalist novelist Yukio Mishima, he was Tokyo bureau chief for three major newspapers and, afterward, was no stranger to controversy.
Irving Rosenthal, Low-Profile Force on the Beat Scene, Dies at 91
He published Ginsberg, Kerouac and Burroughs in the late 1950s. The university that oversaw his journal was not pleased with the “Naked Lunch” excerpt.
Rolando Hinojosa-Smith, Award-Winning Hispanic Novelist, Dies at 93
A Texan raised in two cultures in the Rio Grande Valley border county, he wrote 15 novels about the area and became a major figure
Kevin Lippert, Publisher of Architectural Books, Dies at 63
He began by selling reprints of classics from the trunk of his car and became what one architect called an “impresario for the culture of