US Novelist Styron dies at 81

William Styron, 81, an American Novelist and best known for his two novels- ‘Confessions of Nat Turner’, which fetched him a Pulitzer Prize and ‘Sophie's Choice’, which was made into a commended movie, died yesterday of pneumonia on the Massachusetts resort island of Martha's Vineyard.

Alexandra, Styron’s daughter, informed that the writer had been suffering from ill health since long. In late 1985, Styron suffered from acute depression and was prescribed the drug Halcion, which worsened his condition. He tried to commit suicide, but was stopped and taken into hospital.

Race, class and personal guilt highly fascinated this Virginia native, whose novels such as ‘Lie Down in Darkness’ and ‘The Confessions of Nat Turner’, are based on these themes and despite of protests that the book was racist and inaccurate, ‘The Confessions of Nat Turner’ won him a Pulitzer Prize.

His initial years provided him fodder for writing and by the time he entered his teens, he knew he wanted to become a writer.

Soon after his graduation, he was appointed for the editing position with the McGraw Hill in New York. In ‘Sophie’s Choice’, the writer depicted a passage about the misery of his work. The novel portraying the non-Jewish victim of Holocaust was later turned into an acclaimed film starring Oscar-winning Meryl Streep.

‘Lie Down In Darkness’, a story of a dysfunctional Virginia family culminating in a young woman’s suicide, received overwhelming critical acclaim.

He has also written ‘Long March’, a short novel depicting his experience in the hospital due to eye problems, ‘Set This House on Fire’, a novel about intellectual American expatriates on the Riviera. The novel received mixed reviews.

‘A Tidewater Morning’ is a collection of fiction pieces and has won him great accolades. He also published a book of essays, ‘This Quiet Dust’, and a bestselling memoir, ‘Darkness Visible’, in which he recalled nearly taking his own life and characteristics that grew out of his own depression.

Not only a great writer, but Styron was actively involved in public causes as well. He supported a teacher who was suspended for not saying the oath of allegiance. He also advocated human rights for Jews in the Soviet Union and in the 90s, he was one of a group of authors and historians who effectively defended plans for a Disney theme park near the Manassas National Battlefield in northern Virginia.

Styron is survived by his wife, Rose; daughters Alexandra, Susanna and Paola; son Thomas, and eight grandchildren.