FAMOUS WRITERS THAT DIED IN 2012

JAN BERENSTAIN: July 26, 1923 - February 24, 2012: age: 88: stroke: known for the children's series "The Berenstain Bears" 

MAEVE BINCHY: May 28, 1939 - July 30, 2012: age: 73: heart attack: known for her novels such as "Tara Road" 

RAY BRADBURY: August 22, 1920 - June 5, 2012: age: 91: natural causes: known for many novels such as "Fahrenheit 451" 

HELEN GURLEY BROWN: February 18, 1922 - August 13, 2012: age: 90: natural causes: known for her non-fiction book "Sex and the Single Girl" 

NORA EPHRON: May 19, 1941 - June 26, 2012: age: 71: pneumonia and leukemia: known for her nonfiction book "I Feel Back About My Neck" 

CARLOS FUENTES: November 11, 1928 - May 12, 2012: age: 83: internal bleeding: known for his novel "The Old Gringo" 

JEAN CRAIGHEAD GEORGE: July 2, 1919 - May 12, 2012: age: 92: heart failure: known for her children's books such as "My Side of the Mountain" 

REGINALD HILL: April 3, 1936 - January 12, 2012: age: 75: brain tumor: known for his crime novels such as "Pictures of Perfection" 

MISS READ: aka Dora Jessie Saint: April 17, 1913 - April 7, 2012: age 98: natural causes: know for her "Fairacre Series"

MAURICE SENDAK: June 10, 1928 - May 8, 2012: age: 83: stroke: known for his children's books such as "Where the Wild Things Are" 

DONALD J. SOBOL: October 4, 1924 - July 11, 2012: age: 87: lymphoma: known for his children's series "Encyclopedia Brown" 

GORE VIDAL: October 3, 1925 - July 31, 2012: age: 86: pneumonia: known for his novels such as "Hollywood" 

BILL WALLACE: August 1, 1947 - January 30, 2012: age: 65: lung cancer: known for his children's books such as "No Dogs Allowed" 

FAMOUS WRITERS THAT DIED IN 2013

IAIN BANKS: February 16, 1954 - June 9, 2013: age: 59: gallbladder cancer: known for his sci-fi books such as "The Wasp Factory" 

JOYCE BROTHERS: October 20, 1927 - May 13, 2013: age: 85: respiratory failure: known for her non-fiction book "What Every Woman Should Known About Men" 

TOM CLANCY: April 12, 1947 - October 1, 2013: age: 66: heart failure: known for many best sellers including "The Hunt for Red October" 

ROBERT EBERT: June 18, 1942 - April 4, 2013: age: 70: jaw cancer: known for his non-fiction book "Book of Film" 

VINCE FLYNN: April 6, 1966 - June 19, 2013: age: 47: prostate cancer: known for his thrillers such "Extreme Measure" 

 E. L. KONIGSBURG: February 10, 1930 - April 19, 2013: age: 83: stroke: known for her children's book "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" 

DORIS LESSING: October 22, 1919 - November 17, 2013: age: 94: kidney failure: known for her novel "The Golden Notebook" 

ELMORE LEONARD: October 11, 1925 - August 20, 2013: age: 87: stroke: known for his thrillers such as "Get Shorty" 

RICHARD MATHESON: February 20, 1926 - June 23, 2013: age: 87: natural causes: known for his sci-fi novel "I am Legend" 

BARBARA PARK: April 21, 1947 - November 15, 2013: age: 66: ovarian cancer: known for her children's series "Junie B. Jones" 

FAMOUS WRITERS THAT DIED IN 2014

 MAYA ANGELOU: April 4, 1928 - May 28, 2014: age: 86: heart failure: known for her memoir "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings"

THOMAS BERGER: July 20, 1924 - July 13, 2014: age: 89: natural causes: known for his novel "Little Big Man" 

NORMAN BRIDWELL: February 15, 1928 - December 12, 2014: age: 86: prostate cancer: known for his series "Clifford the Red Dog" 

NADINE GORDIMER: November 20, 1923 - July 13, 2014: age: 90: natural causes: known for her novel "The Pickup" 

KENT HARUF: February 24, 1943 - November 30, 2014: age: 71: lung disease: known for his novel "Plain Song" 

P. D. JAMES: August 3, 1920 - November 27, 2014: age: 94: natural causes: known for her mysteries such as "Original Sin" 

DANIEL KEYES: August  9, 1927 - June 15, 2014: Age: 86: pneumonia: known for his best seller "Flowers for Algernon" 

BILLIE LETTS: May 30, 1938 - August 2, 2014: age: 76: pneumonia: known for her novel "Where the Heart Is" 

GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ: March 6, 1927 - April 17, 2014: age: 87: pneumonia: known for his novel "100 Years of Solitude" 

WALTER DEAN MYERS: August 12, 1937 - July 1, 2014: age: pneumonia: known for his young adult books such as "Fallen Angels" 

ROBERT D. SAN SOUCI: October 10, 1946 - December 19, 2014: age: 68: results of a fall: known for his children's book "The Talking Eggs" 

SUE TOWNSEND: April 2, 1946 - April 10, 2014: age: 68: stroke: known for her children's series "Adrian Mole" 

FAMOUS WRITERS WHO DIED IN 2015

JOHN BAYLEY: March 27, 1925 - January 12, 2015: age: 89: heart failure: known for his memoir "Elegy For Iris"

JACKIE COLLINS: October 4, 1937 - September 19, 2015: age: 77: breast cancer: known for her many novels such as  "Hollywood Wives" 

E. L. DOCTOROW: January 6, 1931 - July 21, 2015: age: 84: lung cancer: known for many novels including "Rag Time" 

IVAN DOIG: June 27, 1939 - April 9, 2015: age: 75: myeloma cancer: known for his memoir "This House of Sky" 

GUNTER GRASS: October 16, 1927 - April 13, 2015: age: lung infection: known for dozens of books including "The Tin Drum" 

COLLEEN MCCULLOUGH: June 1, 1937 - January 29, 2015: age: 77: kidney failure: known for her novel "The Thorn Birds"  

TERRY PRATCHETT: April 28, 1948 - March 12, 2015: age: 66: Alzheimer's disease: known for his many fantasy novels such as "The Colour of Magic"

RUTH RENDELL: February 17, 1930 - May 2, 2015: age: 85: stroke: known for her Inspector Wexford series such as "The Veiled One" 

ANN RULE: October 22, 1931 - July 26, 2015: age: 83: heart failure: known for her many true crime books such as " The Stranger Beside Me" 

OLIVER SACKS: July 9, 1933 - August 30, 2015: age: 82: ocular cancer: known for his non-fiction book "Awakenings"

BERTRICE SMALL: December 9, 1937 - February 15, 2015: age: 77: kidney failure: known for her romances such as "A Dangerous Love" 

FAMOUS WRITERS WHO DIED IN 2016

RICHARD ADAMS: May 9, 1920 - December 24, 2016: age: 96: blood disease: known for his novel "Watership Down" 

EDWARD ALBEE: March 12, 1928 - September 16, 2016: age: 88: natural causes: known for dozens of plays such as "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" 

NATALIE BABBIT: July 28, 1932 - October 31, 2016: age: 84: lung cancer: known for her children's book "Tuck Everlasting" 

PAT CONROY: October 26, 1945 - March 4, 2016: age: 70: pancreatic cancer: known for his novel "The Prince of Tides" 

KATHERINE DUNN: October 24, 1945 - May 11, 2016: age: 70: lung cancer: known for her novel "Geek Love: 

UMBERTO ECO: January 5, 1932 - February 19, 2016: age: 84: pancreatic cancer: known for his novel "The Name of the Rose"

CARRIE FISHER: October 21, 1956 - December 27, 2016: age: 60: heart attack: known for her novel "Postcards from the Edge" 

MARGARET FORSTER: May 25, 1938 - February 8, 2016: age 77: cancer: known for her novel "The Memory Box" 

JIM HARRISON: December 11, 1937 - March 26, 2016: age: 78: heart attack: known for his novella "Legends of the Fall" 

SHIRLEY HAZZARD: January 30, 1931 - December 12, 2016: age: 85: dementia: known for her novel "The Great Fire" 

W. P. KINSELLA: May 25, 1935 - September 16, 2016: age: 81: kidney failure: known for his novel "Shoeless Joe" 

 HARPER LEE: April 28, 1926 - February 19, 2016: age: 89: natural causes: known for her renown novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" 

E. M. NATHANSON: February 17, 1928 - April 5, 2016: age: 88: heart failure: known for his novel "The Dirty Dozen" 

GLORIA NAYLOR: January 25, 1950 - September 28, 2016: age: 66: heart attack: known for her novel "The Women of Brewster Place" 

LOUISE RENNISON: October 11, 1951 - February 29, 2016: age: 64: undisclosed: known for her young adult book "Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal snogging" 

WILLIAM TREVOR: May 24, 1928 - November 20, 2016: age: 88: natural causes: known for his novel "The Story of Lucy Gault" 

ELIE WIESEL: September 30, 1928 - July 2, 2016: age: 87: natural causes: known for his memoir "Night" 

FAMOUS WRITERS WHO DIED IN 2017

MICHAEL BOND: January 13, 1926 - June 27, 2017: age: 91: natural causes: known for his children's book "A Bear Called Paddington" 

WILLIAM PETER BLATTY: January 7, 1928 - January 12, 2017: age: 89: myeloma cancer: known for his book "The Exorcist" 

PAULA FOX: April 22, 1923 - March 1, 2017: age: 93: natural causes: known for her children's book "One Eyed Cat" 

SUE GRAFTON: April 24, 1940 - December 28, 2017: age: 77: appendix cancer: known for her alphabet mysteries such as "A for Alibi" 

DENIS JOHNSON: July 1, 1949 - May 24, 2017: age: 67: liver cancer: known for his novel "Tree of Smoke" 

ROBERT M. PIRSIG: September 6, 1928 - April 24, 2017: age: 88: natural causes: known for the non-fiction book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" 

SAM SHEPARD: November 5, 1943 - July 27, 2017: age: 73: ALS: known for many plays including "Buried Child" 

ROBERT JAMES WALLER: August 1, 1939 - March 10, 2017: age: 77: myeloma cancer: known for his novel "The Bridges of Madison County" 

FAMOUS WRITERS WHO DIED IN 2018

ANTHONY BOURDAIN: June 25, 1956 - June 8, 2018: age: 61: suicide by hanging: known for his memoir "Kitchen Confidential" 

WILLIAM GOLDMAN: August 12, 1931 - November 16, 2018: age: 87: colon cancer: known for his novel "The Princess Bride" 

JACK KETCHUM: November 10, 1946 - January 28, 2018: age: 71: cancer: known for his thrillers such as "Off Season" 

URSULA K. LE GUIN: October 21, 1929 - January 22, 2018: age: 88: heart attack: known for many fantasies including "The Left Hand of Darkness" 

STAN LEE: December 28, 1922 - November 12, 2018: age: 95: heart failure: known for creating Marvel Comics 

JULIUS LESTER: January 27, 1939 - January 18, 2018: age: 78: COPD: known for his children's book "John Henry" 

PETER MAYLE: June 14, 1939 - January 18, 2018: age: 78: natural causes: known for his memoir "A Year in Provence" 

V. S. NAIPAUL: August 17, 1932 - August 11, 2018: age: 85: natural causes: known for his novel "A House for Mr Biswas" 

 AMOS OZ: May 4, 1939 - December 28, 2018: age: 79: cancer: known for his memoir "A Tale of Love and Darkness" 

RICHARD PECK: April 10, 1934 - May 23, 2018: age 84: natural causes: known for his children's books "A Year Down Yonder" and dozens more 

PHILIP ROTH: March 19, 1933 - May 22, 2018: age: 85: heart failure: known for dozens of novels including "American Pastoral" 

ANITA SHREVE: October 7, 1946 - March 29, 2018: age: 71: cancer: known for her Novel "The Pilot's Wife" 

NEIL SIMON: July 4, 1927 - August 26, 2018: age 91: pneumonia: known for many plays including "Lost in Yonkers" 

PENNY VINCENZI: April 10, 1939 - February 25, 2018: age: 78: undisclosed: known for her novel "No Angel" 

BARBARA BROOKS WALLACE: December 3, 1922 - November 27, 2018: age: 95: pneumonia: known for her children's book "Peppermints in the Parlor" 

TOM WOLFE: March 2, 1930 - May 14, 2018: age: 88: infection: known for many novels including "The Bonfire of the Vanities" 

FAMOUS WRITERS THAT DIED IN 2019

RUSSELL BAKER: August 14, 1925 - January 21, 2019: age: 93: complications from a fall: known for his memoir "Growing Up" 

HAROLD BLOOM: July 11, 1930 - October 14, 2019: age: 89: natural causes: known for his non-fiction book "How to Read and Why" 

DOROTHEA BENTON FRANK: September 12, 1951 - September 2, 2019: age: 67: cancer: known for her novel "Sulliavn's Island" 

ERNEST J. GAINES: January 15, 1933 - November 5, 2019: age: 86: natural causes: known for his novel "A Lesson Before Dying" 

JUDITH KERR: June 14, 1923 - May 22, 2019: age: 95: natural causes: known for her children's book "When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit" 

JUDITH KRANTZ: January 9, 1928 - June 22, 2019: age: 91: natural causes: known for her romances such as "Scruples" 

LUCETTE LAGNADO: September 19, 1956 - July 10, 2019: age: 62: complications from cancer treatments: known for her memoir "The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit" 

ANDREA LEVY: March 7, 1956 - February 14, 2019: age 62: breast cancer: known for her novel "Small Island" 

JOANNA LINDSEY: March 10, 1952 - October 27, 2019: age: 67: lung cancer: known for her romances such as "Tender Rebel" 

 TONI MORRISON: February 18, 1931 - August 5, 2019: age: 88: pneumonia: known for her novel "Beloved" and many more

ROSAMUNDE PILCHER: September 22, 1924 - February 6, 2019: age: 94: stroke: known for her novel "The Shell Seekers" 

COKIE ROBERTS; December 27, 1943 - September 17, 2019: age: 75: breast cancer: known for her nonfiction book "Founding Mothers" 

MARJORIE W. SHARMAT: November 12, 1928 - March 12, 2019: age: 90: natural causes: known for her children's series "Nate the Great" 

ANNE RIVERS SIDDONS: January 9, 1936 - September 11, 2019: age: 83: lung cancer: known for her novel "Sweetwater Creek" 

HERMAN WOUK: May 27, 1915 - May 17, 2019: age: 103: natural causes: known for his novel "The Caine Mutiny" 

FAMOUS WRITERS THAT DIED IN 2020

RUDOLFO ANAYA: October 30, 1937 - June 28, 2020: age: 82: natural causes: known for his novel "Bless Me, Ultima" 

BETSY BYARS: August 7, 1928 - February 26, 2020: age 91: natural causes: known for her children's book "The Pinballs" 

MARY HIGGINS CLARK: December 24, 1927 - January 31, 2020: age: 92: natural causes: known for her mysteries such as "Where Are the Children?" 

JOANNA COLE: August 11, 1944 - July 12, 2020: age: 75: pulmonary fibrosis: known her children's series "The Magic School Bus" 

CLIVE CUSSLER: July 15, 1931 - February 24, 2020: age: 88: natural causes: known for his "Dirk Pitt" thrillers 

TOMIE DEPAOLA: September 25, 1934 - March 30, 2020: age: 85: complications from a fall: known for his countless children's books including "Strega Nona" 

BRUCE JAY FRIEDMAN: April 26, 1930 - June 3, 2020: age: 91: infection: known for his novel "A Mother's Kisses" 

TERRY GOODKIND: January 11, 1948 - September 17, 2020: age: 72: natural causes: known for his fantasy series "The Sword of Truth" 

SHIRLEY ANN GRAU: July 8, 1929 - August 3, 2020: age: 91: stroke: known for her novel "The Keepers of the House" 

WINSTON GROOM: March 23, 1943 - September 17, 2020: age 77: heart attack: known for his novel "Forrest Gump" 

PETE HAMILL: June 24, 1935 - August 5, 2020: age: 85: heart and kidney failure: known for his novel "Snow in August" 

A.E. HOTCHNER: June 28, 1917 - February 15, 2020: age: 102: natural causes: known for his non-fiction book "Papa Hemingway" 

JOHN LE CARRE: October 19, 1931 - December 12, 2020: age: 89: complications from a fall: known for his thrillers such as "The Constant Gardener" 

JEAN LITTLE: January 2, 1932 - April 6, 2020: age: 88: heart failure: known for her memoir "Little By Little" 

ALLISON LURIE: September 3, 1923 - December 3, 2020: age: 94: natural causes: known for her novel "Foreign Affairs" 

CHARLES PORTIS: December 28, 1933 - February 17, 2020: age: 86: Alzheimer's disease: known for his western "True Grit" 

GAIL SHEEHY: November 27, 1936 - August 24, 2020: age: 83: pneumonia: known for her non-fiction book "The Silent Passage" 

ELIZABETH WURTZEL: July 31, 1967 - January 7, 2020: age: 52: breast cancer: known for her memoir "Prozac Nation" 

CARLOS RUIZ ZAFON: September 25, 1964 - June 19, 2020: age: 55: colorectal cancer: known for his novel "The Shadow of the Wind" 

FAMOUS WRITERS THAT DIED IN 2021

ERIC CARLE: June 25, 1929 - May 23, 2021: age: 91: kidney failure: known for the children's book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" 

 BEVERLY CLEARY: April 12, 1916 - March 25, 2021: age: 104: natural causes: known for dozens of children's books including "Dear Mr. Henshaw" 

ERIC JEROME DICKEY: July 7, 2021 - January 3, 2021: age: 59: cancer: known for his novel "Cheaters"

JOAN DIDION: December 5, 1934 - December 23, 2021: age: 87: Parkinson's disease: known for her novel "Play It As It Lays" 

LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI: March 24, 1919 - February 22, 2021: age 101: lung disease: known for the novel "Little Boy" 

NORTON JUSTER: June 2, 1929 - March 8, 2021: age: 91: stroke: known for his children's book "The Phantom Tollbooth" 

LARRY MCMURTRY: June 3, 1936 - March 25, 2021: age: 84: natural causes: known for his novel "Lonesome Dove"

JILL MURPHY: July 5, 1949 -August 18, 2021: age: 72: cancer: known for her children's series "The Worst Witch" 

GARY PAULSEN: May 17, 1939 - October 13, 2021: age 82: heart attack: known for his children's book "Hatchet" 

JERRY PINKNEY: December 22, 1939 - October 20, 2021: age: 81: heart attack" known for his children's book "The Lion and the Mouse" 

ANNE RICE: October 4, 1941 - December 11, 2021: age: 80: stroke: known for her novel "Interview With a Vampire" 

FAMOUS WRITERS THAT DIED IN 2022

MELISSA BANK: October 11, 1960 - August 2, 2022: age: 61: lung cancer: known for the fiction book "The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing" 

RAYMOND BRIGGS: January 18, 1934 - August 9, 2022: age: 88: pneumonia: known for the children's book "The Snowman" 

FREDERICK BUECHNER: July 11, 1926 - August 15, 2022: age: 96: natural causes: known for his novel "A Long Day's Dying" 

THOMAS CAHILL: March 29, 1940 - October 18, 2022: age: 82: heart attack: known for his non-fiction book "How the Irish Saved Civilization" 

 BARBARA EHRENREICH: August 26, 1941 - September 1, 2022: age: 81: stroke: known for the non-fiction book "Nickel and Dimed" 

NICHOLAS EVANS: July 26, 1950 - August 9, 2022: age 72: heart attack: known for the fiction book "The Horse Whisperer" 

JACK HIGGINS: July 27, 1929 - April 9, 2022: age: 92: natural causes: known for his thrillers such as "The Eagle Has Landed" 

M.E. KERR: May 27, 1927 - November 21, 2022: age: 95: cardiac arrest: known for her young adult book "Gentlehands" 

MICHAEL MALONE: NOVEMBER 22, 1942 - AUGUST 19, 2022: age 79: pancreatic cancer: known for his fiction book "Four Corners of the Sky" 

HILARY MANTEL: July 6, 1952 - September 22, 2022: age 70: stroke: known for the fiction book "Wolf Hall" 

DAVID MCKEE: January 2, 1935 - April 6, 2022: age: 87: natural causes: known for his children's series "Elmer" 

NANCY MILFORD: March 26, 1938 - March 29, 2022: age 84: natural causes: known for her non-fiction book "Savage Beauty" 

DAVID MCCULLOUGH: July 7, 1933 - August 7, 2022: age 89: natural causes: known for the non-fiction book "John Adams"

P. J. O'ROURKE: November 14, 1947 - February 15, 2022: age: 74: lung cancer: known for the non-fiction book "Eat the Rich"

JOHN JAY OSBORN JR. : August 5, 1945 - October 19, 2022: age: 77: squamous-cell carcinoma: known for his book "The Paper Chase" 

JULIE POWELL: April 20, 1973 - October 26, 2022: age 49: cardiac arrest: known for her non-fiction memoir "Julie and Julia" 

PETER STRAUB: March 2, 1943 - September 4, 2022: age: 79: complications after a fall: known for the horror book "The Talisman" (co-written with Stephen King) 

STUART WOODS: January 9, 1938 - July 22, 2022: age 84: natural causes: known for the mystery book "New York Dead" 

 A.B. YEHOSHUA: December 9, 1936 - June 14, 2022: age 85: throat cancer: known for the novel "The Liberated Bride" 

Best and Worst Movies of 2023

 BEST:

Barbie 

The Holdovers 

The Killer

Killers of the Flower Moon

No Hard Feelings  

Nyad 

Oppenheimer 

Poor Things 

WORST:

Family Switch

Leave the World Behind