Annie Dillard, who as a young American writer walked into the woods and came out with a Pulitzer Prize-winning book on the wonders and horrors of creation, the modern classic “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,” died on Tuesday at her home in South Wellfleet, Mass. Read more
Tag: American Authors
Oliver Wendell Holmes’ Berkshires Retreat For Sale
A Landmark Berkshire Estate of Extraordinary Provenance, the Oliver Wendell Holmes summer cottage. Set on 15 private acres in the heart of the Berkshires, a rare American legacy estate commissioned in 1847 as the summer residence of renowned physician, poet, & author Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. Two centuries later, this extraordinary property remains a testament to architectural elegance, literary heritage, & timeless craftsmanship. Read more
Wendell Berry, Writer Who Extolled America’s Agrarian Past, Dies at 92
Wendell Berry, a Kentucky farmer who plowed his fields behind Belgian draft horses and wrote lyrical poems, novels and essays — mostly in pencil and without electric light — that explored his elegiac visions of the life and death of agrarian America, died on Monday at his home in Port Royal, Ky. Read more
John Crowley, Acclaimed Fantasy Novelist Behind ‘Little, Big,’ Dies at 83
John Crowley, the American author whose novels earned him recognition as one of the most acclaimed fantasy writers of his generation, died on August 9, 2026, at the age of 83. Read more
Ursula Hegi, Who Wrote Searing Novels About Nazi-Era Germany, Dies at 80
Ursula Hegi, a novelist who drew on her childhood in post-World War II Germany to write searing books about silence, community and historical memory, including the best-selling “Stones From the River,” died on July 27 in Sag Harbor, N.Y., on Long Island. Read more
Jane Yolen, Author of 450 Books Including ‘The Devil’s Arithmetic’, Dies at 87
Yolen penned 40 novels, multiple book series, and hundreds of poems. She is known for her 1988 Holocaust novella, The Devil’s Arithmetic, which earned her a World Fantasy Award. Read more
Philip Caputo, Who Wrote Blistering Vietnam War Memoir, Dies at 84
“A Rumor of War,” about his service as a Marine Corps infantry officer and published in 1977, relentlessly detailed “the things men do in war and the things war does to them.” Read more
Tracy Kidder, Author of ‘The Soul of a New Machine,’ Dies at 80
Tracy Kidder, a wide-ranging journalist and author whose deep reporting and novelistic prose illuminated worlds as diverse as home construction, disease prevention and — as portrayed in his prizewinning 1981 breakthrough book, “The Soul of a New Machine” — the computer industry, died on Tuesday in Boston. Read more
Dan Simmons Dies at 77
Dan Simmons, 77, award-winning author of 31 novels and short story collections, passed away on February 21, 2026 in Longmont, Colorado. Many of his books won honors ranging from the Hugo Award, science fiction’s most prestigious award, to two World Fantasy Awards, three Bram Stoker Awards for horror, a dozen Locus Awards, and the Shirley Jackson Award. His titles have been translated into at least 20 languages and published in 28 foreign countries. Read more
Edward Hoagland, Lyrical Chronicler of the Natural World, Dies at 93
Widely considered one of the country’s foremost essayists and often described as an heir to Thoreau, Mr. Hoagland was famed for transforming the modern nature essay into a vehicle for autobiographical introspection. Read more
