The literary world was delivered a big blow today when world-famous Norman Mailer died this morning in New York City. The acclaimed writer died of renal failure. He was 84 years of age.
Digital Journal — Norman Mailer, described by some as the “macho prince of American letters who for decades reigned as the country’s literary conscience and provocateur,” was pronounced dead early Saturday.
J. Michael Lennon, Mailer’s official biographer, was with him when he died at Mount Sinai Hospital. He was 84.
The two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who was famous for criticizing the war in Vietnam and books such as The Armies of the Night and The Naked and the Dead and The Executioner’s Song was both highly celebrated as throughout his career.
While highly regarded for a lot of his work, Mailer never did receive the one “Great American Novel” moniker he worked so hard for.
Forbes describes Mailer as “pugnacious, streetwise and high-living” and he was known for being married six times, smoking pot, drinking heavily and fighting. In one famous case, Mailer stabbed his second wife during a drunken party, coming close to killing her.
More of his eccentricities included:He had nine children, made a quixotic bid to become mayor of New York, produced five forgettable films, dabbled in journalism, flew gliders, challenged professional boxers, was banned from a Manhattan YWHA for reciting obscene poetry, feuded publicly with writer Gore Vidal and crusaded against women’s lib.
But Newsweek reviewer Raymond Sokolov said Mailer’s writing will be what people will remember. He said Mailer had “a superb natural style that does not crack under the pressures he puts upon it, a talent for narrative and characters with real blood streams and nervous systems, a great openness and eagerness for experience, a sense of urgency about the need to test thought and character in the crucible of a difficult era.”
The following is a statement was released shortly after 7 a.m. by Mailer’s family:“With great sorrow, the family of Norman Mailer announces his passing on November 10, at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City. The cause was acute renal failure. He was 84.
Mailer resided in Provincetown, Massachusetts, with his wife of 33 years, Norris Church Mailer, and maintained an apartment in Brooklyn, New York.
He was the author of more than 30 books, the director of four films, and a co-founder of the Village Voice. He ran for mayor of New York in the 1969 Democratic primary, and was a member of the American Institute of Arts and Letters. He won many literary awards, including two Pulitzers and the National Book Award. His latest book, On God: an Uncommon Conversation, was published on October 16th.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by nine children, Susan, Danielle, Elizabeth, Kate, Michael, Stephen, Maggie, Matthew and John Buffalo; ten grandchildren; a sister, Barbara Wasserman, and a nephew Peter Alson.
Arrangements for a private service and interment for family and close friends will be announced next week, and there will be a memorial service in New York in the coming months.”
