J. D. Salinger dies at 91

The famously reclusive author of The Catcher in the Rye died today.  He will be greatly missed, despite having been so possessive of his privacy.

Journalists and bloggers are writing tributes far better than I could, so I'll leave you to them.  The New York Times has quite a bit of interesting pieces on Salinger (as well as Caulfield) here.



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AP Photo

Farewell Dominick Dunne

NP usually does the obits around these parts, but seeing as how she's a little busy with a new life, I'll handle the depressing news.

Dominick Dunne died Wednesday of bladder cancer. I'll let Lisa Derrick at La Figa give the paens to his literary genius, since I've never actually read his books myself:

The first book I read of his was The Winners, a sequel to Joyce Haber's The Users, which Dunne tossed off as a work-for-hire while recovering from his brutal cocaine addiction and the end of his career as a film producer. After that, I devoured anything of his I could get my hands on. I will always regret seeing him in the lobby of the Chateau Marmont circa 1997 and not screwing up the courage to tell him what an influence he was on me.

Dunne's writing focused on high society and its crimes; and, despite the fear they would appear in one of his books, the wealthy embraced and lionized him--whispering secrets at dinner parties, slipping him their phone numbers so they could spill the tea on their "friends." The murder of Alfred Bloomingdale's mistress, Vicky Morgan, was transformed into the bestseller An Inconvenient Woman; the Ivan Boesky scandal became People Like Us; the same with his other novels, where the foibles and crimes of the rich were laid bare with grace and cutting charm. Based on the murder of teenager Martha Moxely, the novel Murder in Greenwich led to the conviction of Michael Skakel, a Kennedy cousin. Robert Kennedy, Jr. felt that Dunne had a personal vendetta against his family; so it is ironic, or perhaps fitting, that Dunne and Teddy Kennedy died just hours apart. I am sure Heaven's waiting room will be quite lively as they meet in line.

[snip]

Dunne's facility with words, his ability to get people to reveal themselves, to confide in him--from Adanan Khashoggi to Elizabeth Taylor, socialites and their household help--made him a consummate reporter -- as did his vision, intuition, and insight.

Yes, he made some huge errors because of his single-minded--some would say narrow minded--pro-victim, pro-prosecution ideology (Gary Condit sued Dunne over his writings on the death of intern Chandra Levy), but he chronicled the rich, their crimes, and their victims with verve, passion and lyricism in his articles. And in his novels he demonstrated you can tell a lot more truth with fiction--and not get sued.

He told a lot of truth without fiction, too. I used to regularly watch his Power, Privilege and Justice on CourtTV. He did have a passion for justice, brought on by the murder of his daughter, Dominique. And he had a flair for demystifying the upper crust without diminishing them. Those two things combined made for excellent viewing. In print or on screen, he was a storyteller through and through.

Dominick Dunne was one of the giants. You can read the story of his life here at the New England Times, and remember a remarkable author.

No Post Title Seems Adequate....

It is a tragedy when anyone decides to take his or her life.  Doubly so when that person has given so much to our world.

From Yahoo! News: (NOTE: Links added by NP)

CLAREMONT, Calif. - David Foster Wallace, the author best known for his 1996 novel "Infinite Jest," was found dead in his home, according to police. He was 46.

Wallace's wife found her husband had hanged himself when she returned home about 9:30 p.m. Friday, said Jackie Morales, a records clerk with the Claremont Police Department.

Wallace taught creative writing and English at nearby Pomona College.

"He cared deeply for his students and transformed the lives of many young people," said Dean Gary Kates. "It's a great loss to our teaching faculty."

Wallace's first novel, "The Broom of the System," gained national attention in 1987 for its ambition and offbeat humor. The New York Times said the 24-year-old author "attempts to give us a portrait, through a combination of Joycean word games, literary parody and zany picaresque adventure, of a contemporary America run amok."

Published in 1996, "Infinite Jest" cemented Wallace's reputation as a major American literary figure. The 1,000-plus-page tome, praised for its complexity and dark wit, topped many best-of lists. Time Magazine named "Infinite Jest" in its issue of the "100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005."

Wallace received a "genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation in 1997.

In 2002, Wallace was hired to teach at Pomona in a tenured English Department position endowed by Roy E. Disney. Kates said when the school began searching for the ideal candidate, Wallace was the first person considered.

"The committee said, 'we need a person like David Foster Wallace.' They said that in the abstract," Kates said. "When he was approached and accepted, they were heads over heels. He was really the ideal person for the position."

Wallace's short fiction was published in Esquire, GQ, Harper's, The New Yorker and the Paris Review. Collections of his short stories were published as "Girl With Curious Hair" and "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men."

He wrote nonfiction for several publications, including an essay on the U.S. Open for Tennis magazine and a profile of the director David Lynch for Premiere.

Born in Ithaca, N.Y., Wallace attended Amherst College and the University of Arizona.

(Corrects school he attended to Arizona, not Illinois.)