January - Authors Lost

January 2010 has been a significant month in literature with the deaths of several prominent authors. Here are some quotes from characters in their work.

Iconic, reclusive novelist J. D. Salinger, author of Catcher in the Rye, 91 (January 28)

"What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though."

A People’s History of the United States historian, activist Howard Zinn, 87 (January 27)

"One percent of the nation owns a third of the wealth. The rest of the wealth is distributed in such a way as to turn those in the 99 percent against one another: small property owners against the propertyless, black against white, native-born against foreign-born, intellectuals and professionals against the uneducated and the unskilled. These groups have resented one another and warred against one another with such vehemence and violence as to obscure their common position as sharers of leftovers in a very wealthy country."

Novelist of manners, literary critic Louis Auchincloss, 92 (January 26)

"We'll get you dressed up in the finest dark suits and white stiff collars — no color except for a gorgeous Charvet tie ... "

Spenser mystery writer Robert B. Parker, 77 (January 18)

"I sat at the end of Hayden's street with the motor idling and the heater on until nine o'clock, when I ran low on gas and had to shut off the motor. By ten fifteen I was cold. The hamburgers were long gone, though the memory lingered on the back of my throat, and I was almost through the bourbon. During that time Hayden had not come to me and confessed. He had not had a visit from Joe Broz or Phil, or the Ghost of Christmas Future. The Ceremony of Moloch had not shown up and sung 'The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi' under his window. At eleven o'clock the lights in his living room went out and I went home--stiff, sore, tired, crabby, dyspeptic, cold, and about five-eighths drunk."

Love Story novelist Erich Segal, 72 (January 17)

"Love means never having to say you're sorry."

Filmmaker, story writer Eric Rohmer, 89 (January 11)

"... thoughts rather than actions."

Feminist Mary Daly, 81 (January 3)

"Women of the world unite! Stand up and fight! Say our own names! Go up in flames!"