New York .- The American writer James Salter, known for titles like “play and amusement,” died Friday at age 90, as confirmed by his wife to “The New York Times “.
Salter, who a few days ago had celebrated her birthday, died suddenly during a session with her therapist. The writer worked almost until the last moment and had just signed a contract for his autobiography.
Born June 10, 1925 in New York, Salter celebrated success with novels like “Game and distraction” (1967) or “Light Years” (1975). His last novel, published in 2013, was titled “Everything there” and was critically acclaimed.
Following the publication of that book, “The New York Times” said that he had got a place in the “Mount Rushmore writers,” referring to the monument that pays tribute to American presidents.
But despite critical acclaim, Salter never managed to place at the forefront of American literature along with writers like Philip Roth, John Updike (died 2009) and Jonathan Franzen.
He was always considered a “writer’s writer”, a definition that did not like. “It seems to write too well, it seems ridiculous,” he said once.
Salter, who once “The Guardian” referred to as “forgotten American literature hero”, he also wrote scripts cinema, including that of “Downhill Racer” (1969), starring Robert Redford.
But the work to Hollywood soon disillusioned him, said in an interview with dpa. “It’s a waste of time,” he said. “You have to write a lot and only a fourth or fifth is used”.
Salter also published stories and even a cookbook with his wife, the writer Kay Elredge. With it spent most of the year in a house in Bridgehamton on Long Island near New York. Married twice, he was a father of four and had four grandchildren. And to this end he puts words to his works by hand and typewriter.
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