As I continue to grieve my favorite author’s death, I’ve now entered a new stage in which I’m grateful that she lived as long as she did and was therefore able to gift us such a vast collection of books spanning multiple arenas of the gothic genre.
I find myself also thinking of two of my other favorites, Shirley Jackson, who died in her 40s, and Flannery O’Connor, who died at just 18, just barely getting started and already with so much talent and potential. They both had so many more fascinating tales of the uncanny and unsettling to tell us when they were taken too soon.
Had they both lived as long as Anne Rice [80], I wonder about the progression and evolution of their works. Would we have been able to watch them struggle with and then reconcile—or ultimately reject—their religious beliefs through their work like Anne? Would they have used the internet or other means to engage with fans like Anne, or mostly chosen to stay out of the spotlight? [Shirley Jackson was famously agoraphobic, but the internet might’ve been a place where she could’ve felt less anxious]. Would their styles have changed with the passing decades that saw such significant transformation since they were prominent in the 50s?
I’m sad but excited to celebrate her life in New Orleans next year. And though I wish she could’ve lived at least as long as Betty White is and keep telling us more stories, I am grateful that we were graced with her as long as we were, and I’m sure she is taking copious notes in whatever realm she’s in currently to inform her next series, in whatever form that takes.
The Humble Pedant 