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Peter Straub, an award-winning novelist known for penning the 1975 supernatural storyJuliaand working alongside friendStephen KingonThe Talisman, has died. He was 79.
The famed horror writer died on Sunday, his daughter Emma Straub shared in a lengthy Twitter tribute thread. His wife Susan Straub confirmed toThe New York Timeshis death stemmed from hip complications.
“We read together at the Poetry Project, at BookCourt, at Barnes and Noble, probably other places that I’m forgetting,” Emma, also an author,shared on Twitter. “His delight in my career, and his total belief in me, is a buoy that I will hold onto for the rest of my life.”
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Through his 17 different novels, several short story collections, and additional novellas, Straub’s other notable works included 1979’s Ghost Story, and 2001’s The Talisman sequel Black House.JuliaandGhost Storywere adapted to film, with 1977’sThe Haunting of Juliastarring Mia Farrow. Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas and John Houseman starred inGhost Storyfour years later.
His friend and collaborator King took to Twitter on Tuesday, the day his new bookFairy Talewas released, to share his mixed emotions of the moment.
“It’s a sad day because my good friend and amazingly talented colleague and collaborator, Peter Straub, has passed away,” King wrote via Twitter. “Working with him was one of the great joys of my creative life.”
The iconic author released his final novelA Dark Matterin 2010 and his final novellaThe Process (is a Process All its Own)in 2017.A Dark Matterwon a Bram Stoker Award from the Horror Writers Association, of which Straub collected several of during his career.
Emma remembered her father as a lover of jazz music, a man with a sweet tooth, and a surprise soap opera actor with a recurring role inOne Life to Live. Emma’s bookThis Time Tomorrow, as she explained on Twitter, was “all about him dying,” and revolved around “every bit of my love for him.”
“That book, and our mutual understanding, meant that when he died, I didn’t doubt for a second that he knew how grateful I was to be his, and vice versa,” she wrote.
source: people.com
