Barbara Fass Leavy: R.I.P.

Sad News. Barbara Fass Leavy: R.I.P. 

Barbara contributed to the Mystery Readers Journal several times, including  "Some Thoughts on Depressed Northern Detectives" in the Scandinavian issue (Volume 30: 4); "A Hurricane in Paradise: Ruth Rendell's The Crocodile Bird" in Extreme Weather Mysteries (Volume 30:2),

Barbara Fass Leavy retired as a full professor from the Department of English, Queens College, the City University of New York. She retained her honorary appointment as Adjunct Professor of English in Psychiatry at the DeWitt Wallace Institute for the History of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University.

Her previous work focused on two areas: literature and folklore; and the theme of plague in literary works from the Middle Ages to the present. Rather whimsically she told her six granddaughters that she is an expert on mermaids, but in a more serious vein, to google her name and the word "mermaid" is to see how widespread is her work on such folklore figures as mermaids, mermen, trolls, demon lovers, and swan maidens. She also wrote on gender relations and was formerly on the editorial board of Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature.

Before retiring as a professor of literature, Leavy taught courses in crime fiction, specifically in Women and Crime Fiction and Crime Fiction and Culture (the ethnic detective). She lectured on the elements of psychology in mystery novels to members of the Institute for the History of Psychiatry. Her study of Ruth Rendell brings together many areas of her studies: family relations, gender, disease as a literary theme, folklore, and mythology.

She will be missed.

New Ruth Rendell Award to Celebrate Literacy Champions

From The Bookseller:

The National Literacy Trust (NLT) and the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) have launched an award in memory of Ruth Rendell for champions of literacy.

The prize is for an author or writer who has worked towards raising literacy levels in the UK, either through their writing and books or through their advocacy and championing of the cause of literacy. Schools, charities, libraries, booksellers and individuals can nominate candidates via the NLT website by the 31st May.

The winner will be chosen by a panel of industry judges, including NLT director Jonathan Douglas and ALCS board member Jonathan Fryer.

The award, which does not come with a monetary prize, will be then be presented by Rendell’s son, Simon Rendell, at a ceremony at the House of Commons in December as part of the All Party Parliamentary Writers Group annual reception. 
Douglas said: “This brand new award celebrating the commitment of authors to the literacy cause is a wonderful tribute to Ruth Rendell, who was a much-loved author and a powerful advocate for literacy.”

Rendell, who died last year at 85, was the bestselling author of murder mysteries, including the Inspector Wexford series.

Ruth Rendell: R.I.P.

Sad news. Ruth Rendell has died at the age of 85. Be sure and scroll down for a video interview with Peter Kemp.

Read Val McDermid's Guardian Obit here.

From BBC News.

Ruth Rendell wrote more than 60 novels in a career spanning 50 years, her best-known creation being Inspector Wexford, which was turned into a highly successful TV series.

Rendell, one of Britain's best-selling contemporary authors, also wrote under the pen-name Barbara Vine. Born in Essex, she is credited with bringing a social and psychological dimension to crime fiction.

Publisher Penguin Random House said Rendell, who suffered a stroke in January, died in London on Saturday morning. "We are devastated by the loss of one of our best-loved authors," the publisher said in a statement.

Penguin Random House chair, Baroness Gail Rebuck, said Rendell was admired throughout publishing for her "brilliant body of work". "An insightful and elegant observer of society, many of her award-winning thrillers and psychological murder mysteries highlighted the causes she cared so deeply about."

Rendell's first Wexford book, From Doon with Death, was published in 1964, beginning a series of more than 20 starring Inspector Reginald Wexford, played in the TV series by George Baker.

Many of her works were translated into more than 20 languages and adapted for cinema and TV, attracting worldwide sales of 60 million. She was the author of more than 20 standalone novels, whose protagonists were often on the margins of society, and was awarded the Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for excellence in crime writing.

Her final novel, Dark Corners, is due to be published in October.

Rendell began her writing career as a reporter on an Essex newspaper. However, she was forced to resign after filing a story about a local sports club dinner that she hadn't attended. Her report failed to mention that the after-dinner speaker had died half-way through the speech.