TAFKAG 70 Posted March 2, 2009 Miguel Serrano, another bloody long lived author. Saw his 89th birthday announced in one of the big serious papers today but had to check out Wikipedia to discover summat about him. Do you think - like - those of us posting regularly here will get the same long term health benefits enjoyed by authors, lots of them seem to live a long time. Serrano está muerto. Él era un hombre malvado, pero inteligente. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pagad Ultimo 6 Posted March 19, 2009 American writer James Purdy is dead at 94. I liked him. RIP Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DevonDeathTrip 2,358 Posted April 3, 2009 The author Michael Cox has died of cancer aged only 60. His debut novel, "The Meaning of Dark" was a bit of a publishing sensation, he decided to write it after his cancer threatened to blind him. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TAFKAG 70 Posted April 19, 2009 JG Ballard has Crashed. He's popped my DDP cherry. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pagad Ultimo 6 Posted April 20, 2009 Maurice Druon (1918-2009) Jean Overton Fuller (1915-2009) Pierre Bourgeade (1927-2009) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Phantom 2,533 Posted April 20, 2009 JG Ballard has Crashed. He's popped my DDP cherry. TAFKAG, Well done on your first DDP hit Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TAFKAG 70 Posted May 4, 2009 Feminist author Marilyn French dead at 79. I'd heard of her, but only via an appearance in ABBA's Bergmanesque knees-up The Day Before You Came. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handrejka 1,904 Posted May 4, 2009 Feminist author Marilyn French dead at 79. I'd heard of her, but only via an appearance in ABBA's Bergmanesque knees-up The Day Before You Came. I'd forgotten she was still alive. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
maryportfuncity 10,646 Posted May 4, 2009 Jimmy Breslin - b 1929 - a leading light of creative nonfiction continues to breathe. Also continues to write. But he's known to have been a heavy smoker and partial to a drink. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TAFKAG 70 Posted June 3, 2009 It's probably about time I declared a vested interest in this thread seeing as I work for a well known chain of bookshops, so humour me while I ramble on with a few suggestions. Diana Athill recently turned 91 and has just won the biography category of the Costa Book of the Year Awards for her account of what it's like to be old and approaching death. Not only is she a nonagenarian, but she is also deaf and has problems with mobility although according to this article, she still drives (badly by the sounds of it). Rather splendidly, Athill is still driving. She finds it difficult to walk, but when she gets in her car "off you whiz just like everyone else, restored to freedom, restored (almost to youth)." She has had a few scrapes in the past year or so – one the result of "being an overtired old person flustered by her own silliness". It is to her credit that she both carries on driving and can admit her own mistakes. Away from Diana, there seems to be a build up of veteran British authors going on at Penguin Publishing. Sir John Mortimer and Dick Francis have their own threads, but you can also add PD James and Richard Adams to the list. James seems to be in good health at the moment, but the occasional picture of Adams I have seen over the past couple of years shows him looking extremely frail. Of the four, I would say Mortimer is closest to carking it, and next time I see our sales rep from Penguin I'll casually enquire after his health, and perhaps one of the others if it doesn't look too suspicious. There are also a clutch of bestselling author's in the 75-80 age bracket who should be creeping onto deadpooler's radars over the next few years. Most notable among them I would say, are, Clive Cussler (77), Wilbur Smith (76), Jack Higgins (79), Chinua Achebe (78), Quentin Blake (76), John Julius Norwich (79), and David Eddings (77). Out of those, the one to keep a closest eye on would be Achebe as he has been confined to a wheelchair since 1990 following a car accident. Having said that, there does seem to be a recent trend of at least one high profile Science-Fiction author falling prey to the Grim Reaper per year, with David Gemmell going in 2006, Robert Jordan in 2007, and Arthur C. Clarke going last year, as well as Pratchett going down with Alzheimer's, so, assuming Eddings isn't this year's victim, he could be one to consider in future. And just to conclude. Prolific author of naval fiction Douglas Reeman is 84, Nobel prize winner Doris Lessing is 89, Nina Bawden turns 84 next week, Rosamunde Pilcher is also 84, K.M. Peyton, who wrote the Flambards series, and who I thought died years ago, is 79, and children's author Eva Ibbotson is 83. Unfortunately I don't have any detailed info on the health of any of them as author's tend to keep themselves very much to themselves as proved by Michael Crichton and George MacDonald Fraser, but hey, I've put their names out there for you to investigate in more detail should you wish. And here endeth my epistle. Looks like Raskolnikov may have got one. If you believe the 'twitterverse', whatever that might be. Perhaps it's somewhere adjacent to the deathosphere. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
maryportfuncity 10,646 Posted June 3, 2009 Raskolnikov didn't have him on the DDP, did he? I've been quietly keeping the new Deathrace 2009 scoreboard updated and a little gaggle of deadpoolers have slowly crept up on Raskie, can't find Eddings on the masterlist there, so I haven't given our newbie deadpooling wunderkind a point. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pagad Ultimo 6 Posted July 7, 2009 One of the most famous contemporary Russian writers, Vasily Aksyonov, 76, remains in critical condition after suffering a stroke in January. No recent link in English but it is reported here that the left hemisphere of his brain is dead, and he will never be able to walk again. Potential candidate for 2009. Not sure about his UK obit chances, anyone else be able to make an intelligent guess on that? Dead. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
maryportfuncity 10,646 Posted July 16, 2009 78 year old Frank McCourt, reportedly suffering from meningitis and resident in a hospice. Pisser mind, if he recovers he could go on for a while. If he dies, he'll probably die short of entry in a CPDP team. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
maryportfuncity 10,646 Posted July 22, 2009 Gordon Burn liked it dark and gloomy in his books, cracking titles written on the Yorkshire Ripper and that fun couple from Gloucester. Our kinda guy for sure, but sadly dead at 61, a stripling by author standards. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
themaninblack 2,112 Posted July 22, 2009 Gordon Burn liked it dark and gloomy in his books, cracking titles written on the Yorkshire Ripper and that fun couple from Gloucester. Our kinda guy for sure, but sadly dead at 61, a stripling by author standards. Yeah, bit of a shock that... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pagad Ultimo 6 Posted July 27, 2009 One of the most famous contemporary Russian writers, Vasily Aksyonov, 76, remains in critical condition after suffering a stroke in January. No recent link in English but it is reported here that the left hemisphere of his brain is dead, and he will never be able to walk again. Potential candidate for 2009. Not sure about his UK obit chances, anyone else be able to make an intelligent guess on that? Dead. Aksyonov's obit in The Independent. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DevonDeathTrip 2,358 Posted July 28, 2009 Author Stanley Middleton. who won the Booker Prize in 1974 for "Holiday" has, er, booked his last holiday. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
time 8,599 Posted August 7, 2009 Future not so bright for author of My Life In Orange Tim Guest; dies age 34. Thats younger than me! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pagad Ultimo 6 Posted August 27, 2009 Veteran Russian author Sergey Mikhalkov, father of the Oscar winning director Nikita Mikhalkov, died at 96. Not sure about his chances of UK obit but he was very much known for penning lyrics for the Soviet (and then Russian) national anthem. The lyrics was first commissioned by Stalin and mentioned his name, then it was discarded and Mikhalkov penned a new text. Then, in modern Russia after Putin came to power, he commissioned to rewrite lyrics of the old anthem for the third time to make it the 'new old anthem' and Mikhalkov did it duly. The guy had long record of brown nosing. Expect a state funeral orgy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
time 8,599 Posted August 27, 2009 Veteran Russian author Sergey Mikhalkov, father of the Oscar winning director Nikita Mikhalkov, died at 96. Not sure about his chances of UK obit but he was very much known for penning lyrics for the Soviet (and then Russian) national anthem. The lyrics was first commissioned by Stalin and mentioned his name, then it was discarded and Mikhalkov penned a new text. Then, in modern Russia after Putin came to power, he commissioned to rewrite lyrics of the old anthem for the third time to make it the 'new old anthem' and Mikhalkov did it duly. The guy had long record of brown nosing. Expect a state funeral orgy. The Times is quick off the blocks! Not precisely an obit, but to report it this quickly, makes you think a proper obit isn't too far behind. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pagad Ultimo 6 Posted August 28, 2009 New Zealand poet Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, 85 is no more. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ulitzer95 12,596 Posted August 28, 2009 New Zealand poet Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, 85 is no more. He was 84, and he died two weeks ago... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BrunoBrimley 86 Posted September 2, 2009 New Zealand poet Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, 85 is no more. He was 84, and he died two weeks ago... Besides which, a poet isn't really and truly an author in the truest sense. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pagad Ultimo 6 Posted September 2, 2009 New Zealand poet Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, 85 is no more. He was 84, and he died two weeks ago... Besides which, a poet isn't really and truly an author in the truest sense. Ah, I see. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Godot 149 Posted September 2, 2009 New Zealand poet Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, 85 is no more. He was 84, and he died two weeks ago... Besides which, a poet isn't really and truly an author in the truest sense. Ah, I see. So he should really be dead in Dead Poets rather than Dead Authors. This just makes the place untidy. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
