US writer
Mourning for Joan Didion – died at the age of 87
The writer Joan Didion in her New York apartment. Photo: Kathy Willens / AP / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
For decades Joan Didion described life on the US West Coast – but her best-known book became the personal processing of her husband’s sudden death. The author died yesterday at the age of 87.
Mourning after the death of Joan Didion: The US writer died at the age of 87 in New York from complications from Parkinson’s, as her publisher Knopf Doubleday confirmed to the German press agency. Many praised her work and mourned the author.
“A brilliant author who has changed the art of writing,” wrote Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon (45) on Twitter. She thanked Didion for sharing her stories with the world. “America lost one of its greatest storytellers today. We will miss you, Joan Didion, ”wrote US actress Lynda Carter (70) on Twitter. The journalist Maria Shriver, ex-wife of Arnold Schwarzenegger, praised Didion as a “legend” who has helped so many people through her work.
Didion made a name for herself as a journalist and novels about life and hippie culture in California in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2005, the later bestseller “The Year of Magical Thinking” appeared, in which she dealt with the sudden death of her husband John Dunne. Together with him she had also written the screenplay for “A Star is Born” in 1976, which a few years ago was a hit movie with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
“Joan was a brilliant observer and listener who wisely and subtly taught truths about our present and future,” said editor Shelley Wanger. “Her writing is timeless and powerful, and her prose has influenced millions of people. We will mourn her death, but celebrate her life. “
US actress Jessica Chastain wrote on Twitter that she would celebrate the author today and linked excerpts from Didion’s speech to students in 1975. California Governor Gavin Newsom praised the 1934 Sacramento-born author as the influential “pioneer” of a new author Journalism movement of the 1960s. “She was unique in her capacity to write about life, loss, love and society,” said the politician’s statement.