william styron (1925-2006)

William Styron has died of pneumonia at 81.

Styron was a Virginia native, whose fascinations with race, class and personal guilt led to such tormented narratives as Lie Down in Darkness and The Confessions of Nat Turner, which won the Pulitzer Prize despite protests that the book was racist and inaccurate.

Among his other works were Sophie's Choice, his award-winning novel about a Holocaust survivor from Poland, which was later turned into an acclaimed film starring an Oscar-winning Meryl Streep, and A Tidewater Morning, a collection of fiction pieces. 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.

A lifelong liberal, Styron was involved in many public causes, from supporting a Connecticut teacher suspended for refusing to say the oath of allegiance, to advocating human rights for Jews in the Soviet Union. In the 90s, he was one of a group of authors and historians who successfully opposed plans for a Disney theme park near the Manassas National Battlefield in northern Virginia.

Styron wrote: "A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted. You should live several lives while reading it."
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