Authors Last A Long Time, But....

[Thatcher 2,417]

Robert B. Silvers, longtime editor of The New York Review of Books (1963-2017), has died aged 87. He's had a few profile articles over the years, including the FT and the Guardian in 2004 and again in 2014, so presumably will obit.

 

Obituaries: New York Times, Daily Mail, Guardian.

[msc 18,477]

Colin Dexter, creator of Inspector Morse, has died, BBC Breaking News. Damn fine writer, actually, and a favourite of my mum - she'll be gutted.

[Bibliogryphon 9,586]

3 minutes ago, msc said:

Colin Dexter, creator of Inspector Morse, has died, BBC Breaking News. Damn fine writer, actually, and a favourite of my mum - she'll be gutted.

A massive miss for my theme team. Damn

[WednesdayAddams 103]

Have to confess I thought he'd died years ago.

[Toast 16,140]

Awwww, much more to be regretted than McGuinness. 

 

I really enjoyed the Morse books.  I discovered them before the TV series was made, but as he was still writing the books it was interesting to see how some things had to be dropped or subtly changed so as not to clash with the telly!  Lewis originally being an older Welsh chap, for instance, and I think Morse drove a Lancia, not a Jag.

 

I shall take consolation in the fact that he wouldn't have written any more anyway.

[Phantom 2,533]

I can't remember if I have him on any of my lists

[time 8,606]

4 hours ago, Toast said:

Awwww, much more to be regretted than McGuinness. 

 

I really enjoyed the Morse books.  I discovered them before the TV series was made, but as he was still writing the books it was interesting to see how some things had to be dropped or subtly changed so as not to clash with the telly!  Lewis originally being an older Welsh chap, for instance, and I think Morse drove a Lancia, not a Jag.

 

I shall take consolation in the fact that he wouldn't have written any more anyway.

I never got into the TV adaptations - tried watching a couple of times but they never 'grabbed' me, which the books did. Much the same with Wingfield's Frost.

[Toast 16,140]

31 minutes ago, time said:

I never got into the TV adaptations - tried watching a couple of times but they never 'grabbed' me, which the books did. Much the same with Wingfield's Frost.

 

They always had a great cast, but some of them - not those based on the books - had ridiculously convoluted plots.  A trait shared by the sequels, although the recent series of Endeavour was quite decent.  

 

All of them were beautifully shot though and a visual pleasure, especially if you know Oxford.  I have been intrigued to see how they have managed to do 1960s Oxford in Endeavour, the colleges don't change much of course but a recent one featured St Catherine's which of course didn't look new enough   And there are still a few timeless corners if you know where to go.

 

And another titbit was spotting Colin Dexter himself, as he did a Hitchcock and appeared in almost every episode!  Even in the latest series of Endeavour, while he was clearly no longer well enough to appear in person, he can be spotted on a poster, in a newspaper item or something similar.

[time 8,606]

1 hour ago, Toast said:

 

They always had a great cast, but some of them - not those based on the books - had ridiculously convoluted plots.  A trait shared by the sequels, although the recent series of Endeavour was quite decent.  

 

All of them were beautifully shot though and a visual pleasure, especially if you know Oxford.  I have been intrigued to see how they have managed to do 1960s Oxford in Endeavour, the colleges don't change much of course but a recent one featured St Catherine's which of course didn't look new enough   And there are still a few timeless corners if you know where to go.

 

And another titbit was spotting Colin Dexter himself, as he did a Hitchcock and appeared in almost every episode!  Even in the latest series of Endeavour, while he was clearly no longer well enough to appear in person, he can be spotted on a poster, in a newspaper item or something similar.

I can't remember if the ones I tried to watch were based on books or not, as I can't remember the the titles. Reading of the books came some years later. 

 

My knowledge of Oxford is sadly limited to its railway station, where I once spent a glorious half-hour waitng for a connecting train one dismal Sunday afternoon.

[Handrejka 1,904]

I always liked the radio adaptations. I found the "scenery porn" a little bit too distracting in the TV programmes albeit in a good way.

[themaninblack 2,112]

Could never get into the Morse TV series. A bit slow moving for me. Music was nice though...

[YoungWillz 21,050]

On ‎11‎/‎17‎/‎2010 at 05:59, maryportfuncity said:

Those thoughtful people at the Costa Book Awards have raised the profile of the little known poet Roy Fisher, who is already an otagenarian. Obit-worthy if he wins, so may be worth keeping tabs on.

Telegraph Obituary: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2017/03/22/roy-fisher-poet-jazz-pianist-obituary/

 

Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Fisher

[maryportfuncity 10,646]

1 hour ago, YoungWillz said:

Telegraph Obituary: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2017/03/22/roy-fisher-poet-jazz-pianist-obituary/

 

Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Fisher

 

 

Aye

 

As my granddad might have said

 

I telt yers but neeone kept tabs!

[msc 18,477]

6 minutes ago, maryportfuncity said:

 

 

Aye

 

As my granddad might have said

 

I telt yers but neeone kept tabs!

 

There was me going "Oh aye I remember that post, when was it made again".... 7 years ago!

 

We're all getting older by the day, except those who don't of course, like Mr Fisher now.

[YoungWillz 21,050]

On ‎5‎/‎16‎/‎2012 at 13:44, Bibliogryphon said:

Its time for another list of people who still breathe:

 

Booker Prize Winners 1971-2001

 

Author (Year of Birth)

 

V S Naipaul (1932)

John Berger (1926)

Nadine Gordimer (1923)

Ruth Prawer Jhabval (1927)

David Storey (1933)

Salman Rushdie (1947)

Thomas Keneally (1935)

J M Coetzee (1940)

Anita Brookner (1928)

Keri Hume (1947)

Penelope Lively (1933)

Peter Carey (1943)

Kazuo Ishiguro (1954)

A S Byatt (1936)

Ben Okri (1959)

Michael Ondaatje (1943)

Barry Unsworth (1930)

Roddy Doyle (1958)

James Kelman (1946)

Pat Barker (1943)

Graham Swift (1949)

Arundhati Roy (1961)

Ian McEwan (1948)

Margaret Atwood (1939)

 

I have omitted the deceased winners such as Kingsley Amis & William Golding

 

 

I don't have any specific health information but apart from those that are well into their eighties I would perhaps begin thinking about James Kelman if only because of the obvious gift if he does go (How late he was, how late).

 

All of them will be obit worthy (especially on Radio 4)

 

Don't be fooled I have never read a Booker Prize winning novel

David Storey has died aged 83: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39404214

 

Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Storey

[msc 18,477]

7 minutes ago, YoungWillz said:

David Storey has died aged 83: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39404214

 

Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Storey

 

David Storey wrote This Sporting Life, which became the film of the same name. The film had William Hartnell in one of his great film roles. Verity Lambert saw the film, and immediately cast Hartnell as the original Doctor Who. Hartnell and the show became icons.

 

In other words, Storey is inadvertently responsible for Doctor Who.

[Bibliogryphon 9,586]

1 hour ago, msc said:

 

David Storey wrote This Sporting Life, which became the film of the same name. The film had William Hartnell in one of his great film roles. Verity Lambert saw the film, and immediately cast Hartnell as the original Doctor Who. Hartnell and the show became icons.

 

In other words, Storey is inadvertently responsible for Doctor Who.

Last Word fodder.

[msc 18,477]

At this point in the week, certainly. Who knows what will happen between now and then though.

[time 8,606]

William Powell, author of The Anarchists Cookbook, died aged 67, last July. Seems to have gone unnoticed until now.

 

(Cue lots of posts pointing me to where it was reported at the time, but search function turns up nothing).

[Heef 166]

On 3/28/2017 at 01:35, msc said:

 

David Storey wrote This Sporting Life, which became the film of the same name. The film had William Hartnell in one of his great film roles. Verity Lambert saw the film, and immediately cast Hartnell as the original Doctor Who. Hartnell and the show became icons.

 

In other words, Storey is inadvertently responsible for Doctor Who.

I only got David Storey's Saville out of the library on Tuesday. Funny how coincidences go. Looks like it hadn't been checked out since 2004.

 

One of only 8 Bookers I've got left to read now. Currently working through Barry Unsworth's Sacred Hunger

 

A good number of those Booker winners have died since 2012 - Unsworth, Brookner, Gordimer, Berger and now Storey. A good number of elderly authors left though - Byatt, Naipaul, Lively, Keneally.

 

Recent winners have been a bit younger. Can't see DBC Pierre, Catton, Beattie, James or Flanagan.

[Bibliogryphon 9,586]

13 minutes ago, Heef said:

I only got David Storey's Saville out of the library on Tuesday. Funny how coincidences go. Looks like it hadn't been checked out since 2004.

 

One of only 8 Bookers I've got left to read now. Currently working through Barry Unsworth's Sacred Hunger

 

A good number of those Booker winners have died since 2012 - Unsworth, Brookner, Gordimer, Berger and now Storey. A good number of elderly authors left though - Byatt, Naipaul, Lively, Keneally.

 

Recent winners have been a bit younger. Can't see DBC Pierre, Catton, Beattie, James or Flanagan.

Kelman or Mantell might be worth a shot though.

[Heef 166]

I've heard Tom Keneally isn't the healthiest of men, but it really is a pot shot. I selected John Berger for my DDP team this year on a whim, really. 

[Bibliogryphon 9,586]

Just now, Heef said:

I've heard Tom Keneally isn't the healthiest of men, but it really is a pot shot. I selected John Berger for my DDP team this year on a whim, really. 

Me too but I have had some massive literary misses in the past few weeks. Dexter, Walcott, Storey

[YoungWillz 21,050]

Death Notice for Sheila Robinson, who wrote under the pseudonyms Sheila Radley and Hester Rowan, aged 88. http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/212779/robinson.-sheila-mary

 

More here: https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/sheila-radley

[YoungWillz 21,050]

Death Notice for Jeremy Wilson, authorised biographer of TE Lawrence, aged 72. http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/212943/wilson

 

Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Wilson