7 Author Shoutouts | Authors We Love To Recommend

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In This Week’s Author Shoutouts:

Jan Morris

Jan Morris, an individual hailing from Clevedon, Somerset, England, deserves an Author Shoutout. Originally known as James Humphry Morris, Jan Morris was a notable Welsh historian, author, and travel writer. Notably, she was part of the renowned British Mount Everest expedition in 1953. In 1949, Jan Morris entered into marriage with Elizabeth Tuckness, with whom she shared the joy of raising five children. However, in 1964, Jan Morris embarked on a transformative journey, chronicling her experiences in the 1974 autobiography Conundrum. This poignant memoir stands as one of the pioneering works discussing gender reassignment.

In 1996, she was honored with the Glyndŵr Award for her remarkable contribution to the arts in Wales. Despite being a Welsh nationalist, she accepted the appointment as Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005. Furthermore, she was recognized with the Golden PEN Award by English PEN in 2005 for her lifetime’s exceptional service to literature. Tragically, she passed away in 2020 at the age of 94, with her wife Elizabeth and their children by her side.

Thomas Wolfe

An Author Shoutout to Thomas Wolfe, who was born in Asheville, North Carolina. He was among the early writers to emphasize autobiographical fiction, drawing inspiration from his family and the experiences in Asheville itself. It caused discontent among the townspeople when their thinly disguised counterparts appeared in his published works, and later when those characters were omitted in subsequent stories.

He passed away at the young age of 37 due to miliary tuberculosis affecting his brain. Despite this tragic event, he left behind a substantial collection of writings and journals, which included two fully completed novels. More than half of his works have been published after his death.

Anne Rice

Anne Rice, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, deserves an Author Shoutout. She gained fame through her gothic fiction, particularly The Vampire Chronicles series consisting of 10 books, commencing with Interview with the Vampire in 1976 and concluding with Blood Canticle in 2003. In addition, she has also written Christian literature and erotica, using the pen names Anne Rampling and A.N. Roquelaure.

Curiously, she was originally baptized as Howard Allen Francis O’Brien, a name bestowed upon her by her unconventional mother, but has adopted the name Anne since her earliest school days. When her teacher inquired about her name, she chose Anne due to its aesthetic appeal. Sadly, she passed away at the age of 80 due to stroke-related complications in 2021. One of her less renowned yet highly impactful works is The Mayfair Witches series.

Edward P. Jones

Edward P. Jones, born in Washington, D.C., deserves an Author Shoutout for his remarkable contributions as an author. His notable works, including Lost in the City and The Known World, have garnered prestigious awards such as the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critic’s Circle award, the PEN/Hemingway Award, a MacArthur genius grant, and the Lannan Literary Award.

Despite growing up in extreme poverty within a shattered family, with minimal acquaintance with his Jamaican immigrant father, the loss of his cherished mother, who was illiterate and succumbed to lung cancer four decades back, the tragic death of his sister due to an enraged driver, and his brother’s lifelong institutionalization due to severe mental disability, he possesses an extraordinary tale that is unveiled through his narratives and novels.

David Brin

David Brin, a native of Glendale, California, deserves an Author Shoutout as an esteemed author. He has received multiple prestigious accolades for his contributions to the realm of hard science fiction, including the Hugo, Locus, and Nebula Awards. Additionally, his nonfiction publication, The Transparent Society, was honored with the Freedom of Speech Award bestowed by the American Library Association.

With a Masters in applied physics and a PhD in space science, this individual has expertise in astrophysics. They actively contribute to NASA’s Innovative and Advanced Concepts group and the advisory board of the Museum of Science Fiction. Not only that, but they are also responsible for the creation of the RPG Tribes and the storyline of the video game Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future.

Diane Ackerman

Diane Ackerman, born in Waukegan, Illinois, deserves an Author Shoutout. From a young age, she showed a keen interest in nature. In 2015, her nonfiction book titled The Human Age: The World Shaped by Us received recognition. It won the National Outdoor Book Award in the Natural History Literature category and also received PEN New England’s Henry David Thoreau Prize for nature writing.

Diane achieved recognition as a finalist for prestigious literary awards, including the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, for her memoir titled One Hundred Names for Love. Additionally, her compelling true-life narrative, The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story, not only won the Orion Book Award in 2008 but was also adapted into a significant motion picture in 2017.

Frank Herbert

Frank Herbert, born in Tacoma, Washington, deserves an Author Shoutout. While he penned many short stories and novels, it was his renowned science fiction masterpiece, Dune, and its subsequent five installments that propelled him to fame, if not wealth. Dune secured the Nebula Award in 1965 and jointly won the Hugo Award in 1966. Interestingly, Herbert’s inspiration for Dune stemmed from his assignment as a journalist to write an article on sand dunes in Oregon.

The magazine article never came to fruition, yet it sparked the creation of a timeless masterpiece. In 1984, the novel experienced a revival thanks to David Lynch’s film adaptation, and twice again with the highly acclaimed reboots by Denis Villeneuve, Dune I and Dune II. Herbert’s passing came in 1986 at the age of 65, succumbing to a heart attack following pancreatic cancer surgery.

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