Like any year, 2024 has been filled with extraordinary highs and heartbreaking lows — including the deaths of famous authors like N. Scott Momaday (House Made of Dawn), Terry Bisson (Any Day Now), and Chita Rivera (Chita).
Though these writers, poets, and creatives have passed away, their written words live on as perfect examples of how books can help us change the world — by inspiring us, teaching us empathy, and broadening our perspectives. The fiction and nonfiction books here have left an indelible mark on our hearts and society as a whole.
Join us in celebrating the legacy of the authors who died recently by reading some of their most beloved novels and memoirs.
Seven Forges by James A. Moore
In the opener to the Seven Forges grimdark fantasy series, retired soldier Merros Dulver leaves his home kingdom of Fellein to brave the dangerous mountains of the Seven Forges. There, he encounters a unique race of warriors — including a giant with a silver hand. But are these beings friend or foe?
Sci-fi and horror novelist Moore passed away on March 27 at the age of 58. He won the Bram Stoker Award for his novella, Bloodstained Oz, and also earned a Bram Stoker nomination for Serenity Falls.
Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge
Vinge, who died this year on March 20 at 79 years old, won many literary awards in his lifetime, including the Hugo, Prometheus, and Locus Awards. (Rainbows End won both a Hugo and Locus Award.)
This 2007 novel is set in San Diego in 2025, where virtual and physical realities converge and a plot to destroy the world’s cache of books is ready to be set in motion. (It seems Vinge possessed uncanny foresight.)
Though Robert Gu is 75 years old, the latest technology not only cures his Alzeimer’s disease, but also allows him to live as if he’s young again. As he struggles to adapt to a hyper-digital era (complete with collective virtual consciousness), he’s pulled further and further into a global conspiracy.
Mama’s Last Hug by Frans de Waal
De Waal explores the emotional lives of animals, including Mama, the titular chimp. Having dedicated his life to research, he also discusses how dogs, birds, rats, and other animals feel empathy, jealousy, and myriad other emotions. This moving account challenges human exceptionalism in the best way, revealing how much we can learn about animals — and ourselves — if we just pay attention.
De Waal, a Dutch American primatologist and award-winning author, died on March 14 from cancer. He was 75.
Going All the Way by Dan Wakefield
Though Sonny and Gunner ran in different circles in high school and are, largely, polar opposites, they forge a strong friendship after they both serve in the Korean War. This coming-of-age story brings 1950s Indianapolis to life as it follows both young men as they readjust to the Midwest after fighting in a war on foreign soil and begin forging their own paths (with plenty of sex, booze, and hard life lessons along the way).
Wakefield, who passed away on March 13, started his career as a journalist covering the Emmet Till murder trial in Mississippi. Going All the Way was lauded by author Kurt Vonnegut and earned a National Book Award nomination; it also inspired a 1997 film starring Ben Affleck and Rachel Weisz.
Ask Albert Einstein by Lynne Barasch
When seven-year-old April’s older sister faces a seemingly impossible math problem, April writes a letter to the only person who may be able to help: Albert Einstein. This children’s novel was inspired by a real-life letter sent to Einstein, which Barasch learned about in a 1952 New York Times article.
Barasch was an award-winning children’s author and illustrator; she passed away on March 7 at the age of 84. On her official website, Barasch wrote, “Telling stories and making pictures gives me great joy.”
The Dead Won’t Tell by S.K. Waters
S.K. Waters was a pseudonym for software-engineer-turned-book-publisher Sue Arroyo. After founding Trident Technologies, she changed careers to start CamCat Books, under which she published over 100 titles (including her own). Arroyo died on February 26 after a fall injury in her home at the young age of 57.
In The Dead Won’t Tell, a southern mystery, journalist Abbie Adams begins looking into a cold case, only to realize an enemy from her past may be involved. And it quickly becomes clear that the killer will stop at nothing to keep the truth hidden.
Max’s Words by Kate Banks
Max’s older brothers won’t share their very cool collections of stamps and coins, so Max decides to start a collection of his own. His area of interest — words, cut out of magazines — will hit home for any reader or writer.
Max’s Words is among over 50 children's books Banks wrote in her lifetime, and it was inspired by her own sons, Max and Peter. She started her career as an editor’s assistant at Knopf Books for Young Readers (as one might expect of a children’s author penning stories about the worth of the written word). After battling a chronic illness, Banks died on February 24 at 64 years old.
Collision Course by Alvin Moscow
Collision Course recounts the 1956 maritime disaster where ocean liners Andrea Doria and Stockholm collided in the North Atlantic, causing the rapid sinking of the Doria. Fifty-one people were killed in the accident, but, astonishingly, over 1,600 were saved.
As a journalist at the time, Moscow covered the court proceedings following the disaster. His book details not only the hearings, but also the events of that night and the heroic actions taken by rescuers.
Moscow died on February 6 at age 98. Besides Collision Course, he also authored and co-authored a variety of other nonfiction books, working alongside famous figures like Richard Nixon (Six Crises, for which Moscow was not credited) and Patty Hearst (Every Secret Thing).
Chita by Chita Rivera
Drawing on her seven decade-long career — during which she earned three Tony Awards and the Presidential Medal of Freedom — actress and dancer Rivera’s memoir delivers a rich account of life in the entertainment industry.
From escaping the typical Latine typecasts to working with major players like Stephen Sondheim and Liza Minnelli, Rivera’s career is a storied tale of hard work and breaking the mold.
Rivera passed away at 91 years old on January 30. Her Broadway credits include Chicago and Bye Bye Birdie, and she also appeared in films such as Sweet Charity and Tick, Tick… Boom!
House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday
Momaday, a member of the Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma, was a decorated author, poet, and short story writer. His many accolades include being named the Oklahoma Centennial Poet Laureate and receiving the National Medal of the Arts in 2007. He died on January 24 at the age of 89.
House Made of Dawn, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1969, follows Abel as he returns from war and tries to navigate the tensions between his Indigenous culture and American society. He struggles between the temptations of the modern world and his soul’s attachment to everything he once held sacred. The novel opened many doors for Native authors to finally have their stories heard in the wider world.
See You on the Radio by Charles Osgood
Osgood, an American TV and radio broadcaster, is best known for hosting CBS News Sunday Morning for over two decades. The National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Famer passed away on January 23 at 91 years old.
Osgood was also a successful author and newspaper columnist. See You on the Radio is a collection of essays drawn from his CBS Radio broadcasts. The topics range from politics to quirky characters Osgood met throughout his career, and each essay is imbued with the author’s signature wit and humor.
Any Day Now by Terry Bisson
Clay yearns for more than his small Kentucky hometown can offer, so he braves the Big Apple to attend college with like-minded Beat poets and revolutionaries. Before long, his coming-of-age journey takes him to a hippie commune in New Mexico.
“Bisson shows true finesse in capturing the mood of a generation,” says Publishers Weekly of this novel set in the tumultuous era of 1960s America.
Bisson was a prolific sci-fi and fantasy author who wrote novels and short stories, including his debut, Bears Discover Fire, which won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards (among others). The author also wrote several film novelizations, including The Sixth Day. He died on January 10 from cancer at 81 years old.
