Remember Them By Reading

Every one of us who reads for enjoyment has discovered that perfect author--the one whose every book we'll devour. Whose next book we'll crave, bemoaning the time it takes before we can clasp it happily in our hands. And then the unthinkable happens--the author dies in real life. No more new stories. (Usually, anyway.)

This week we've lost two prominent and popular authors--Erich Segal of Love Story fame ("Love means never having to say you're sorry") and Robert B. Parker, creator of the notable characters Spenser and police chief Jesse Stone. Their characters will all live on, especially since movies and television shows have featured their exploits.

Below are just a few of the authors, editors & screenwriters the literary world lost in 2009. Reread an old favorite or discover a new author to appreciate and remember. They have not died as long as their words are read.

The Urbana Free Library owns books by all the authors listed below.

AUTHORS WHO DIED IN 2009

Vasili Aksenov
J. G. Ballard
Jay Bennett
Eric Blau
Pat Booth
Charles N. Brown
Gordon Burn
Hortense Calisher
David Carradine
Jim Carroll
Jacques Chessex
Arthur C. Clarke
Louise Cooper
Michael Cox
Walter Cronkite
Lionel Davidson
Tom Deitz
David Herbert Donald
Maurice Druon
Dominick Dunne
David Eddings
Amos Elon
Philip José Farmer
Horton Foote
John Hope Franklin
Celia Fremlin
Marilyn French
H. B. Gilmour
Phyllis Gotlieb
Leila Hadley
Lyn Hamilton
Donald Harington
E. Lynn Harris
Paul Harvey
Paul Hemphill
Christopher Hibbert
Jane Aiken Hodge
Robert Holdstock
Bill Holm
Hans Holzer
Stuart M. Kaminsky
Millard Kaufman
John A. Keel
Elmer Kelton
Karla Kuskin
Edith Layton
Blair Lent
John Leonard
James Lord
Sheila Lukins
Malcolm MacPherson
John Maddox
Norma Fox Mazer
Frank McCourt
Ellen Miller
Stanley Middleton
John Mortimer
Christopher Nolan
Harold Norse
Robert D. Novak
Barbara Parker
Milorad Pavic
James Purdy
Ken Rand
William Safire
Tayeb Salih
Budd Schulberg
Edwin Shrake
W. D. Snodgrass
William G. Tapply
John Updike
Edward Upward
Sheila Walsh
Keith Waterhouse
Paul O. Williams
Sidney Zion

--Thanks to Cindy Orr, editor of the Readers Advisor Online blog
http://www.readersadvisoronline.com/blog/index.php/2010/01/04/authors-who-died-in-2009/