Novelist William Styron Dies at 81
William Styron, the Pulitzer Prize-winning
author of"The Confessions of Nat Turner" and other novels whose
explorations of the darkest corners of the human mind and experience were
charged by his own near-suicidal demons, died Wednesday. He was 81.
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Styron's daughter, Alexandra, said the author died of pneumonia at a hospital in Martha's Vineyard, Mass. Styron, who had homes in Martha's Vineyard and Connecticut, had been in failing health for a long time.
"This is terrible," said Kurt Vonnegut, a longtime friend."He was dramatic, he was fun. He was strong and proud and he was awfully good with the language. I hated to see him end this way."