Writers who passed away in 2007

This is always a sad chore that I endure every year: the listing of writers who passed on in the previous year. I do this because I want to make sure that I remember those great individuals who are no longer with us. It's easiest to remember who dies in the latter part of the year but those who had the misfortune to die in the early part of the year are too easily forgotten. Some of the names are well know others are not but each were important contributors to our literary culture.

David Halberstam, 73, Journalist

• He died in a tragic car accident last year. Will be remembered for the work he did during the Vietnam War. His latest book, The Coldest Winter, focused on the forgotten war, the Korean War.

Mark Harris, 84, Novelist

• Best known for his book "Bang the Drum Slowly."

Molly Ivins, 62, Best-selling Author and Columnist
"The sharp-witted liberal who referred to George W. Bush as 'Shrub'."

• Molly, Molly, Molly, the world will not the same without Molly. She was funny and smart and so on point about so many issues. Losing her voice is a personal tragedy for me. She would have been even more effective as a blogger. She will be sorely missed.

Madeleine L'Engle, 88, Author

• Wrote "A Wrinkle in Time" listen to the Diane Rehm Shows reader's review on this wonderful book.

Norman Mailer, 84, Author and Novelist

• This man was larger than life in many ways. He dominated popular fiction for decades. I blogged about one of his last readings which he did here in NYC with Gunter Grass.

Tillie Olsen, 94, Feminist Author

• Ms. Olsen was an early feminist writer and is best known for her book "Tell Me a Riddle." We have a cafe here in Brooklyn around the corner of my house called Tillie's named after this author that does a lot of readings and other literary activities.

Sembene Ousmane, 84, filmmaker and novelist

• Wrote one of my favorite books ever, God's Bits of Wood, a novel about the railway strike of 1947-8 in Nigeria as seen through the workers' eyes. I blogged about him when he passed away.

Grace Paley, 84, Acclaimed poet and short story writer.

Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., 89, Pulitzer-winning historian

Sekou Sundiata, 58, Spoken Word Artist and Poet

• Recordings of his his poetry can be found at Ani DiFranco's Righteous Babe Records.

Kurt Vonnegut, 84, Author

• The funny, inventive, irreverent, chain smoking author is no longer with us. He will be sorely missed. I found this interview with him on "Bookworm" where he talks about his book A Man without a Country.