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| Ward Just | |
Ward Just, author of 19 novels, two nonfiction titles and many short stories, died on December 19. He was 84 and suffered from Lewy body dementia.
After working for the Waukegan News-Sun, his family's newspaper in Waukegan, Ill., Just worked at Newsweek and then covered the Vietnam War for the Washington Post before leaving journalism to write fiction. The New York Times called Just "a journalist for whom the Vietnam War was both a personal trauma and a national tragedy, inspiring him to write novels about people whose lives are shaped by war, political intrigue, myopic diplomats and other forces beyond their control."
Echo House, about three generations of a family of Washington power brokers, was a finalist for a National Book Award in 1997. In 2004, An Unfinished Season, about rabid anti-communism, labor unrest and class differences in the U.S. in the 1950s, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist.
The Times observed: "Some critics consider In the City of Fear (1982), which depicts Washington during the Vietnam era, to be his most ambitious novel. But he said his favorite was American Romantic (2014). It follows the life of Harry Sanders, a foreign service officer, from his posting in Southeast Asia in the ominous early 1960s on to Africa, Scandinavia and the Mediterranean.
"As he ages and tires, Sanders has more wisdom but fewer certainties, describing himself to a listener as 'like a blind man in a dark room searching for a black cat that isn't there.'
" 'And do you want to know something else?' Sanders goes on. 'The stakes are not small. This world is filled with mischief, and more than mischief.' "
In an e-mail to the Martha's Vineyard Times, author Geraldine Brooks called Just "an inspiration to me as a newspaperman, a fearless foreign correspondent, a prolific and talented novelist, and as a friend. He was witty and modest about his gifts. Accepting [the New England Independent Booksellers Association's President's Award in 2009], he thanked independent booksellers for their passionate support of his literary novels throughout the years. 'No one gets rich selling Ward Just,' he told them, 'including Ward Just.' He is a loss to the Vineyard and to the world of literature."
Ann Nelson, former owner of Bunch of Grapes Bookstore on Martha's Vineyard, called Just "one of the great writers.... His writings were so diversified and beautifully written, they transported you into his pages.... Customers and guests in my home would ask me for a recommendation for reading, and I would always have a Ward Just book among my recommended books. Without fail, the reader or guest would ask for another book written by Ward. To me, Ward's words on his typewriter have been cut short. There is no doubt in my mind that in today's political climate, having such a rich field to work with, he would have written another great novel. The world has lost a star among writers. I shall not only miss his writings, I will miss a good friend."
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| Da Chen | |
Da Chen, "the brilliant storyteller who drew from the hardships he suffered as a persecuted child growing up in the midst of China's Cultural Revolution to create the critically acclaimed memoir Colors of the Mountain," died December 17, the Associated Press reported. He was 57. Published in 1999, the bestselling book recounted abuses he and his family suffered during the latter years of the period.
"He watched his father being hung up by his thumbs and beaten and his grandfather stoned frequently with rocks thrown at him by children," said his wife, Dr. Sun-Ling Chen. "He would undergo a lot of humiliation parades where they would throw fruit and other things at him. Frequently he was sent to labor camps where he worked with people twice his age digging irrigation trenches in the mountains."
After Mao's death in 1976, Da Chen "was allowed to take the country's college entrance exam, on which he scored among the highest in the country. He was admitted to the prestigious Beijing Language and Culture University; upon graduation he joined the faculty teaching English," the AP wrote. Offered a scholarship to Nebraska's Union College, Da Chen "recalled arriving in the United States with little more than $30 and his treasured bamboo flute. He supported himself for a time as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant." He then received a scholarship offer from Columbia University in New York City.
Da Chen earned a law degree, then worked as an investment banker on Wall Street. Inspired by John Grisham, he tried to write a legal thriller. After his second failed attempt, his wife, who worked as his editor, suggested he write the stories he'd told his family about his early years in China. The result was Colors of the Mountain.
His other books include Sounds of the River; Brothers: A Novel; Wandering Warrior; and his most recent work, Girl Under a Red Moon.