Evan brought it to my attention this morning that American writer William Styron has passed away. He was 81 years old, and an important figure to me as I had the privilege of meeting him when I was in college. Some of his better known novels are Sophie’s Choice and The Confessions of Nat Turner. He signed not only my copy of Sophie’s Choice (which I gave to my high school journalism teacher, Dianna Parham), but my copy of Set This House on Fire, which was felt by one of my English professors to be his greatest, albeit not well known, book.
When I met him, Styron had recently overcome a severe depressive episode, and much of his talk described his struggle with the disease, but how grateful he was to have triumphed. Without elaborating too much, I will make the claim that meeting him was one of my more memorable college experiences (and there were many) – one of the benefits of attending a large state university.
