A mathematician by training, he acquired a devoted following with songs that set sardonic lyrics to music that was often maddeningly cheerful. Read more
Category: Obituaries
Martin Cruz Smith, Acclaimed Author of ‘Gorky Park,’ Dies at 82
Among Smith’s honors were being named a “grand master” by the Mystery Writers of America, and winning the Hammett Prize for “Havana Bay” and a Gold Dagger award for “Gorky Park.” Read more
John Martin, Devoted Publisher of Literary Rebels, Dies at 94
John Martin, an adventurous independent publisher who brought out the raucous work of the poet Charles Bukowski, as well as the writing of other offbeat literary rebels like Paul Bowles, John Fante and Wyndham Lewis, died on June 23 at his home in Santa Rosa, Calif. Read more
Frederick Forsyth, Master of the Geopolitical Thriller, Dies at 86
He wrote best-sellers like “The Day of the Jackal” and “The Dogs of War,” often using material from his earlier life as a reporter and spy. Read more
Peter Lovesey, a Master of British Whodunits, Is Dead at 88
He wrote a series of witty police procedurals set in Victorian England and then turned to the present, introducing a cantankerous and technology-averse detective. Read more
Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel-Winning Peruvian Novelist, Dies at 89
Mario Vargas Llosa, the Peruvian novelist who combined gritty realism with playful erotica and depictions of the struggle for individual liberty in Latin America, while also writing essays that made him one of the most influential political commentators in the Spanish-speaking world, died on Sunday in Lima. Read more
Irish Crime Writer Ken Bruen Dies Aged 74
The author published more than 50 works including the acclaimed Jack Taylor crime novels. Read more
Joseph Wambaugh, Author With a Cop’s-Eye View, Is Dead at 88
Joseph Wambaugh, the master storyteller of police dramas, whose books, films and television tales powerfully caught the hard psychic realities of lonely street cops and flawed detectives trapped in a seedy world of greed and senseless brutality, died on Friday at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Read more
Tom Robbins, Whose Comic Novels Drew a Cult Following, Dies at 92
Tom Robbins, whose cosmically comic novels about gargantuan-thumbed hitchhikers, stoned secret agents and mystic stockbrokers caught hold of millions of readers in the 1970s counterculture, died on Sunday at his home in La Conner, Wash. Read more
Jules Feiffer, Acerbic Cartoonist, Writer and Much Else, Dies at 95
In his long-running Village Voice comic strip and in his many plays and screenplays, he took delight in skewering politics, relationships and human nature. Read more
