Novelist PD James Dies Aged 94 ('Children of Men')

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

Novelist PD James dies aged 94

BY JILL LAWLESS
NOV. 27, 2014 8:40 AM EST
20

LONDON (AP) — Publisher Faber and Faber says mystery writer P.D. James, who brought realistic modern characters to the classical British detective story, has died. She was 94.

- snip -

But James' books were strong on character, avoided stereotype and touched on distinctly modern problems including drugs, child abuse and nuclear contamination.

- snip -

In 1980, with the publication of her eighth book, "Innocent Blood," her small but loyal following exploded into mass, international popularity.

"Monday, I was ticking along as usual, and by Friday I was a millionaire," she once said.

- snip -

Her work was not confined to the mystery genre. Her 1992 science fiction novel "The Children of Men," about a dystopian future in which humanity has become infertile, was turned into a critically praised 2006 movie by Alfonso Cuaron. In 2013 she published "Death Comes to Pemberley," introducing a murder mystery into the lives of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice."



Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/b50e94bb025345868543cb787cf75148/novelist-pd-james-dies-aged-94

[shenmue]

1. Nooooooooo :(

I has a Sad.

The BBC story:

http://m.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-30232569

[Nay]

2. She lived a long and full life, but nooooooooooooo....

Such a novelist. I'll have to start rereading everything of hers.

[Divernan]

3. RIP Baroness Phyllis Dorothy James - a great writer & lovely person

I got to meet her back in 1998, when she came to the Mystery Lovers Bookstore in Oakmont, PA. I asked her about her writing schedule, and she told me she started out every day fixing herself tea and feeding her cat - then sat down to write. I have an autographed copy of one of her Adam Dalgliesh thrillers, "A Certain Justice." She was then in her late 70's but enjoying a demanding book tour.

Phyllis Dorothy James, published her first mystery in 1962, while working in the criminal section of Britain's Department of Home Affairs. She's also served on the BBC board and saw many of her books turned into successful TV productions, broadcast here on the PBS program "Mystery."
from Wikipedia:

James was born in Oxford, the daughter of Sidney James, a tax inspector, and educated at the British School in Ludlow and Cambridge High School for Girls.[3]

James had to leave school at the age of sixteen to work, because her family did not have much money and her father did not believe in higher education for girls. James worked in a tax office for three years, and later found a job as an assistant stage manager for a theatre group. In 1941, she married Ernest Connor Bantry White, an army doctor. They had two daughters, Claire and Jane.

When White returned from the Second World War, he was suffering from mental illness and James was forced to provide for the whole family until her husband's death in 1964. With White in a psychiatric institution and their daughters being mostly cared for by his parents, James studied hospital administration and from 1949 to 1968 worked for a hospital board in London.[4]

James began writing in the mid-1950s.[5] Her first novel, Cover Her Face, featuring the investigator and poet Adam Dalgliesh of New Scotland Yard, named after a teacher at Cambridge High School, was published in 1962.[6] Many of James's mystery novels take place against the backdrop of the UK's bureaucracies, such as the criminal justice system and the National Health Service, in which James worked for decades starting in the 1940s. Two years after the publication of Cover Her Face, James's husband died and she took a position
as a civil servant within the criminal section of the Home Office. James worked in government service until her retirement in 1979.

In 1991, she was made a life member of the House of Lords.

[asjr]

4. One of the best writers in my lifetime. I devoured her books.

[Beacool]

5. Sad to hear the news.

I love mysteries and she was a master of the genre. She had a long and fruitful life, but she will be missed.

May she rest in peace.

[question everything]

6. R.I.P P.D. James

I never knew whether she chose that name to hide her gender, or just to hide. Her first book that I read was "unsuitable job for woman." The heroine there was Cordelia Gray.

It was later that I was introduced to the brooking Adam Dalgliesh.

[TNNurse]

7. Though I have not read all of her books,

I have never been disappointed in one. Perhaps, in retirement I will read them all.

[NV Whino]

8. A great loss to the writing world

A great loss to all of us, but her legacy lives on.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. No! I love her books and I think I've read them all.

She was a fine writer, and she dug much deeper into motivation and basic human weirdness than most mystery writers. I'm sorry to hear she's gone.

[classof56]

10. Sad news, but what a legacy she left!

She was a true gift to the literary world. May she rest in peace.

[Overseas]

11. Great novelist! RIP.

[Odin2005]

12. Oh no!

[Skittles]

13. I think she did a cameo in the movie Children of Men (from her book)

holding the dog in the cafe, shortly before the bombing

[ladym55]

14. What a loss

I have loved all of her books. She was such a good writer, and I will miss her.

[Ron Obvious]

15. Oh no!

I think I've read everything she's written. She was as sharp as ever in her most recent books.

RIP

[msanthrope]

17. I wish she had done more Cordelia Gray. nt

[msanthrope]

16. Damn!!!! nt