Legendary author and journalist Joan Didion, whose work included the National Book Award-winning memoir The Year of Magical Thinking, has died. She was 87.
Didion's death was reported Thursday by The New York Times and confirmed in a statement from her publisher, Knopf. The publisher said she died in her New York home due to complications from Parkinson's disease.
"Didion was one of the country's most trenchant writers and astute observers," the publisher said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Didion was born in 1934, and she went to work at Vogue after she won an essay contest. She became an associate features editor for the magazine, and throughout her career, she wrote for Vogue, Life, The New York Review of Books, and more. In 1963, she published her first novel, Run, River, and she went on to write fiction books including A Book of Common Prayer and The Last Thing He Wanted and nonfiction books like The Year of Magical Thinking, which she authored in the aftermath of the death of her husband John Gregory Dunne. Didion and Dunne's daughter died in 2005.
Didion also wrote a number of screenplays, including for the 1976 version of A Star Is Born, and her essays were published in collections like 1968's Slouching Towards Bethlehem.
"She was fearless, original, and a marvelous observer," former The New York Review of Books editor Robert B. Silvers told the Times. "She was very skeptical of the conventional view and brilliant at finding the person or situation that was telling about the broader picture. She was a great reporter."
Former President Barack Obama awarded Didion a National Medal of Arts and Humanities in 2013, saying at the time she "rightly has earned the distinction as one of the most celebrated American writers of her generation" and "one of our sharpest and most respected observers of American politics and culture." Obama added, "I'm surprised she hadn't already gotten this award."
-
Mermaiding: the underwater subculture on the riseUnder the Radar Cosplay meets fitness in an escapist fin-omenon that's making waves around the world
-
Delhi's dogs earn Supreme Court reprieveIN THE SPOTLIGHT After an outcry from the public and animal rights activists, India's Supreme Court walks back a controversial plan to round the city's stray dog population into shelters
-
8 hotels with ace tennis courtsThe Week Recommends Bring your A game
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
