Vinegar Tits 606 Posted July 30, 2012 Been announced on Irish television that Maeve Binchy has died 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
time 8,618 Posted July 30, 2012 Been announced on Irish television that Maeve Binchy has died and on the beeb Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildstorm 297 Posted August 3, 2012 Gabriel Garcia Marquez, author of literary masterpiece '100 years of Solitude', has been suffering from dementia for a long time despite his good physical health. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Magere Hein 1,400 Posted August 3, 2012 Gabriel Garcia Marquez, author of literary masterpiece '100 years of Solitude', has been suffering from dementia for a long time despite his good physical health. I'm sad to hear that, for more than one reason. regards, Hein Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bibliogryphon 9,588 Posted August 7, 2012 I have an Authors theme team drafted out but Ray Bradbury put a hole in its bows but it is still afloat. I kept some names back!! Now Gore Vidal has gone I have had to draft in Eric Hill (of Spot fame!) and I have A.S. Byatt and Salman Rushdie warming up on the bench Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bibliogryphon 9,588 Posted August 7, 2012 Now Gore Vidal has gone I have had to draft in Eric Hill (of Spot fame!) and I have A.S. Byatt and Salman Rushdie warming up on the bench Or should that be cooling down? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Phantom 2,534 Posted August 15, 2012 Harry Harrison of Stainless Steel Rat and Soylent Green fame has died at the age of 87 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Magere Hein 1,400 Posted August 15, 2012 Harry Harrison of Stainless Steel Rat and Soylent Green fame has died at the age of 87 Fuck. I like his books. regards, Hein Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adrian0719 224 Posted August 16, 2012 Harry Harrison of Stainless Steel Rat and Soylent Green fame has died at the age of 87 Wanted to get a chance to read 'Make Room! Make Room!' before he died, and I almost put him on my Shadow List for this year. Loss in more than one way... Boo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bibliogryphon 9,588 Posted August 16, 2012 Harry Harrison of Stainless Steel Rat and Soylent Green fame has died at the age of 87 Another opportunity for Brian Aldiss to remind us he is still alive by commenting on the passing of a contempory (but better) writer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JR976evil 906 Posted August 16, 2012 Harry Harrison of Stainless Steel Rat and Soylent Green fame has died at the age of 87 Wanted to get a chance to read 'Make Room! Make Room!' before he died, and I almost put him on my Shadow List for this year. Loss in more than one way... Boo. I don't think he'll hold a posthumous reading against you Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Guest Posted August 22, 2012 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. Nina Bawden has died Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
angryGreatness 96 Posted September 2, 2012 Richard Bach, author of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull", has been seriously injured in a plane crash on the San Juan Islands. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
angryGreatness 96 Posted September 6, 2012 Famous children's book author Judy Blume is battling a very early stage breast cancer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bibliogryphon 9,588 Posted September 7, 2012 Hugo award winning SF writer Jack Vance is still with us - Born 1916 A good replacement for any who had Harry Harrison on their lists. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
charon 4,943 Posted September 23, 2012 Sven Hassel @ 95 , my favourite author at age 12. Says a lot about me...... Edit for 1st signs of a link....... http://www.nyuinterventional.com/controversial-danish-war-authors-death/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=controversial-danish-war-authors-death Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DevonDeathTrip 2,358 Posted September 29, 2012 American author and "gender theorist" Kate Bornstein has announced she has been diagnosed with early stage lung cancer. She is already suffering from a mild form of leukemia and her blog post alludes to other health problems. I quite like Bornstein's choice of titles for a couple of her books : Nearly Roadkill: An Infobahn Erotic Adventure. Hello, Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks, and Other Outlaws Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
time 8,618 Posted October 1, 2012 Historian Eric Hobsbawm has died aged 95 after a long illness. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Guest Posted October 1, 2012 isn't there a seperate thread for historians? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Octopus of Odstock 2,203 Posted October 4, 2012 Helen Nicoll, author of Meg and Mog, has died, aged 73 - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9587995/Helen-Nicoll.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
charon 4,943 Posted October 9, 2012 Eric Lomas @ 93, author of 'The Railway Man'.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Lomax Don't know if it was just a BBC Scotland documentry but I remember the 1995 meeting of him and one of his guards. and the John Hurt thing too. Interesting to see they are filming it just now as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
time 8,618 Posted October 9, 2012 Eric Lomas @ 93, author of 'The Railway Man'.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Lomax Don't know if it was just a BBC Scotland documentry but I remember the 1995 meeting of him and one of his guards. and the John Hurt thing too. Interesting to see they are filming it just now as well. Eric Lomax Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bibliogryphon 9,588 Posted October 9, 2012 Helen Nicoll, author of Meg and Mog, has died, aged 73 - http://www.telegraph...len-Nicoll.html Very sad - my daughter loved these growing up. So much that her copy of Mog's Box (oh for heaven's sake) had to be stapled together several times from over reading Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bibliogryphon 9,588 Posted October 11, 2012 Elmore Leonard is 87 today. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adrian0719 224 Posted October 12, 2012 Alice Munro cancels sold out appearance in Toronto. Described as 'frail'. http://stjo.es/TH7uXg 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
