Thursday, January 08, 2009

NOTABLE AUTHORS WHO DIED IN 2008

Forrest J. Ackerman
Science fiction editor and critic

Robert Lynn Asprin
Author of the humorous fantasy series MythAdventures
and beloved fixture in science fiction fandom

Eliot Asinof
Novelist best known for the non-fiction work Eight Men Out

Clive Barnes
Theater, dance, and art critic

Andrew Britton
Author of the Ryan Kealey suspense novels

William Buchan
Pioneer author of spy fiction

William F. Buckley, Jr.
Conservative commentator, founder of the National Review,
and author of political essays, memoirs, and thrillers

Algis Budrys
Science fiction writer and editor

George Carlin
Irreverent comedian and political commentator

George C. Chesbro
Author of several mystery and spy thrillers, best known for the Robert "Mongo" Frederickson private eye novels

Arthur C. Clarke
Science fiction novelist and futurist
best known for 2001 and Childhood's End

Myron Cope
Award-winning sportswriter

C. R. Corwin
Author of the Morgue Mama mystery series

Michael Crichton
Author of numerous speculative thrillers such as Jurassic Park, and creator of the television series ER

James Crumley
Prolific mystery author, including the Milo Milodragovitch
and the C. W. Sughrue series

Thomas M. Disch
Multiple award-winning science fiction novelist and critic

Julius Fast
Author of mysteries and popular non-fiction

Elaine Flinn
Author of the mystery series featuring antique dealer Molly Doyle

Leo Frankowski
Writer of military science fiction,
including the Conrad Stargard series

George MacDonald Fraser
Best known for the series of historical romps
featuring unrepentant rogue Harry Flashman

Simon Gray
Novelist and playwright

Elizabeth Guest
Author of contemporary and paranormal romances

Gary Gygax
Co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons and
writer of many books on role-playing games

Oakley Hall
Novelist and author of the Ambrose Bierce mystery series

Jon Hassler
Novelist of small-town life in Minnesota

Tony Hillerman
Prolific mystery novelist, best known for the Joe Leaphorn
and Jim Chee series set on the Navajo reservation

Edward D. Hoch
Prolific mystery author, especially short stories

Russell Warren Howe
True-crime, thriller, and spy novelist

Joe Hyams
Political journalist and celebrity biographer

Donald James
Writer of thrillers and television scripts

Janet Kagan
Hugo-award winning science fiction and fantasy author

William C. Knott
Wrote westerns under numerous pseudonyms

Ralph Kovel
Creator of the immensely popular price guides
for collectibles and antiques

John Leonard
Literary editor and pop culture critic

Jack Lynch
Author of the Peter Bragg private eye series

Arthur Lyons
Editor and author of the Jacob Asch private eye series

Steven Marlowe
Author of historical fiction and mysteries

Gregory McDonald
Mystery and suspense writer, best known for the Fletch series

Conor Cruise O'Brien
Irish politician, intellectual, and historian

Meg O'Brien
Authored the Jessica James mysteries

Audrey Peterson
Wrote mystery novels and criticism

Harold Pinter
Poet, playwright, essayist and critic

Dorothy Porter
Prize-winning poet and author of verse novels

Julian Rathbone
Wrote historical fiction and numerous mystery series

Alain Robbe-Grillet
Noted French experimental novelist and
"anti-literary" fiction writer

Jerry Rodriguez
Playwright and mystery writer

Tim Russert
Newsman, political analyst, and author of
such memoirs as Big Russ and Me

Benjamin Schutz
Author of crime procedurals and
the Leo Haggerty private-eye series

Edward Sheehan
Freelance journalist and novelist

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Nobel Prize-winning novelist and critic of the Soviet Union

Studs Terkel
Author of popular social histories and consummate interviewer

Margaret Truman (Daniel)
Daughter of President Harry Truman and prolific author
of the Capital Crimes murder mysteries

Tasha Tudor
Caldecott-winning illustrator and author of
classic children's books

W. T. Tyler
Author of spy novels and thrillers

Peter Vansittart
Prolific historical novelist

David Foster Wallace
Innovative novelist, essayist, and journalist,
best known for his novel Infinite Jest

Hillary Waugh
Pioneering writer of police procedurals and hardboiled suspense

Janwillem van de Wetering
Author of numerous mystery novels and short stories, including the Grijpstra and de Gier series

Donald Westlake
Writer of many mysteries and thrillers,
including the Dortmunder comic capers, who also
wrote under many pseudonyms, especially Richard Stark

Phyllis Whitney
Beloved author of many historical, romance, and
gothic novels for teens and adults

Helen Yglesias
Feminist writer and novelist

list compiled by Fiction_L

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Funny - out of all those authors, the one I read first, lo these many decades ago, is also the one that has consistently given me the most pleasure over the years: Westlake.

Long before Vachss' Burke was Stark's Parker. And you would be hard pressed to find a Bernie doppleganger today - the closest anyone comes is Sanford's Kidd.

Is that wrong, do you think? I mean I remember reading a 2 mark paperback copy of Candle in the Wind on a train from Munich; I wrote him with a question and the paperback for an autograph and got the book back with a 7 page handwritten reply in French; I spent 30 fascinating minutes in the lobby at Naropa in Boulder listening to Wallace footnote himself; there will never, ever be anything like the Flashman Papers - too unique; disch, Faser, Port, Authur C Clark for pity's sake...

And it's Westlake I miss most.

Barry said...

Wow, so many books that we like in common, especially the Gospel according to Biff.

Such a shame to have lost so many good authors last year.

I write about fish and wildlife and the absurdities of life. If you have an interest in humor and mysteries, you may enjoy my book. Please take a look.

www.barryahiggins.blogspot.com/

Thanks,

Barry