Sunday, September 14, 2008

REGINALD SHEPHERD AND DAVID FOSTER WALLACE R.I.P.

Two writers:
one "white" (Wallace) one "black" (Shepherd);
one a "poet" (Shepherd) one a "novelist" (Wallace);
one died "by his own hand" (Wallace) one not (Shepherd).

But both voices unique in this world of endless media, including more books published each year than ever before.

Both "died too young"—in their mid-forties—Wallace born in '62, Shepherd in '63.

Both will be sorely missed by not just their families and friends, but their many fans.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The novelist Thomas McGuane has referred to alcoholism as "the writer's black lung disease." I wonder if suicide is not his/her cancer.