Anne Rice reportedly dies from a stroke

[Sidewinder]

I used the term "reportedly" because some board members doubt the website on which it's reported. Anyways...

Anne Rice, Author Of The Vampire Chronicles, Passes Away From “Complications Resulting From A Stroke” At Age 80
Spencer Baculi, December 12, 2021

According to her son, storied and celebrated author Anne Rice, best known for her seminal vampire fiction series The Vampire Chronicles, has passed away at 80 following “complications resulting from a stroke”.

Rice’s sudden passing was revealed by her son, Christopher Rice, who took to his mother’s official Facebook page on December 11th to inform fans of the heartbreaking news.

“Earlier tonight, Anne passed away due to complications resulting from a stroke,” revealed Christopher. “She left us almost nineteen years to the day my father, her husband Stan, died.”

“The immensity of our family’s grief cannot be overstated,” he continued. “As my mother, her support for me was unconditional — she taught me to embrace my dreams, reject conformity and challenge the dark voices of fear and self-doubt. As a writer, she taught me to defy genre boundaries and surrender to my obsessive passions.”

Christopher then turned to his mother’s “final hours”, recalling how he “sat beside her hospital bed in awe of her accomplishments and her courage, awash in memories of a life that took us from the fog laced hills of the San Francisco Bay Area to the magical streets of New Orleans to the twinkling vistas of Southern California.”

“As she kissed Anne goodbye, her younger sister Karen said, ‘What a ride you took us on, kid,’” he added. “I think we can all agree. Let us take comfort in the shared hope that Anne is now experiencing firsthand the glorious answers to many great spiritual and cosmic questions, the quest for which defined her life and career.”

In addition to her work in helping bring Vampires to the forefront of pop-culture, Rice also penned a number of other works, including a trilogy of erotic novels based on the story of Sleeping Beauty and a series which depicted a fictional but historically and religious-based interpretation of the life of Jesus Christ.

However, Rice could never stay away from the world of The Vampire Chronicles for long, producing near-regular entries in the series up until her death, with the most recent story in the series, Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat, being published in late 2018.

Though she spent most of her life as an atheist, Rice returned to her childhood faith of Catholicism in 1998 before ultimately denouncing organized religion all-together.

“In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay,” she declared in 2010. “I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.”
However, in spite of her admonishment the Christian church, Rice clarified that she still believed in God and Christ, explaining, “My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn’t understand to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me. But following Christ does not mean following His followers.”

“Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been, or might become,” she stated.

Concluding his announcement, Christopher noted that “Anne will be interred in our family’s mausoleum at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans in a private ceremony,” while “a celebration of her life will take place in New Orleans” next year.

“This event will be open to the public and will invite the participation of her friends, readers and fans who brought her such joy and inspiration throughout her life,” noted Christopher.

[Jub]

Rest in peace Anne Rice.

I've enjoyed a fair number of her works over the years but I can say that I hope this kills the dumb prohibition on fanfiction using her works. I never understood that and I hope her estate is less litigious than she was.

[LadyTevar]

Rest in peace Anne Rice.

I've enjoyed a fair number of her works over the years but I can say that I hope this kills the dumb prohibition on fanfiction using her works. I never understood that and I hope her estate is less litigious than she was.

From what others have been saying, her Publishing Company told her that fanfiction would negatively affect sales, and was 'stealing her work'. She believed her Publishing Company, and therefore started cracking down on Fanfiction. I don't know if that excuses her actions or not, but I find the implication that she did it to stop "all the gay fanfiction" stupid when you consider her "Sleeping Beauty" novels, which was nothing but BDSM and heavily gay-coded.

[Jub]

Rest in peace Anne Rice.

I've enjoyed a fair number of her works over the years but I can say that I hope this kills the dumb prohibition on fanfiction using her works. I never understood that and I hope her estate is less litigious than she was.

From what others have been saying, her Publishing Company told her that fanfiction would negatively affect sales, and was 'stealing her work'. She believed her Publishing Company, and therefore started cracking down on Fanfiction. I don't know if that excuses her actions or not, but I find the implication that she did it to stop "all the gay fanfiction" stupid when you consider her "Sleeping Beauty" novels, which was nothing but BDSM and heavily gay-coded.

I get that she had her reasons and also that she softened her stance over the years, it's just a shame that her and her publishers also tore fan fiction communities in half at a time when they were just getting started.

[Broomstick]

I think many today forget that when fanfiction first got started the notion it was stealing and would hurt authors was near universal among publishing companies and most successful authors. Those that permitted it were seen as foolish or idiots. It took time to show that it could be a positive and not a negative.

[Zaune]

On a related note...

honoring anne rice’s life and legacy today

If the Organisation for Transformative Works, which was founded as a direct response to that nonsense, has any opinions about her life and legacy they've chosen not to issue a public statement.

[Zaune]

Sorry to double-post, but. this had to be shared.



Source, which doesn't say where the screenshot came from but it looks like a Guardian article.

And yes, the book is real. So not only did someone sit down and turn this plot idea into a manuscript, but someone liked that manuscript enough to publish the goddamn thing, and apparently Anne Rice thought it had enough literary merit to try and make excuses for it when the review copies went out and people discovered that this was a thing that exists.

I generally prefer to let a dead celebrity's fanbase mourn in peace without reminding them of all the not-so-laudable bits of their legacy, but... seriously?

[muse]

So...is she dead or undead?

[Jub]

So...is she dead or undead?

It was a question she would often ask herself in the days, that seemingly stretched to weeks, after her death. She knew she'd experienced something akin to death; a quickening heart followed by its eternal rest, lungs that filled one last time and then sat still, and a mind that raced and then was still. She couldn't be sure if the light she saw after the darkness was a holy light or even that this wasn't all part of her final dying dream. What she did know was a terrible thirst.

[Jub]

I fear I didn't describe the beeping of machines, the smell of disinfectant, and the feeling of the hospital sheets nearly well enough to capture her style in my post above.

That's no pox on her either, I do enjoy that style of prose. If I didn't I'd never have finished the Wheel of Time series.

[ben-huraltoneo]

RIP.. so sad