I was very sad to read today of the death of writer, Paul Auster. He was a prolific author of novels, memoirs, and screenplays, whose body of work will long be remembered. He is best known for his New York Trilogy.

My November review in this space was the book, Baumgartner, his last. Knowing that, I might have savored reading it in a different way. The protagonist, Baumgartner, was someone all of us of a certain age could identify with.

Quite a few years ago, I was privileged to attend what was titled, A Conversation with Paul Auster and JM Coetzee at the New York State Writers Institute. For those unfamiliar with him, Coetzee is a prolific South African writer who won the 2003 Nobel Prize for literature. I still remember the impact his book Disgrace had on me. Set in post Apartheid, the novel takes a deep dive into a society scorched by poverty, made worse by criminal and arrogant behavior.

The event was to promote their collaboration, Here and Now: Letters 2008-2011. It contained three years of correspondence between the two writers. On stage, the two were as articulate and charismatic as they are in their books. These two men, deep into their own conversation, illuminated how complex, imaginative minds can be.

If anyone is interested, there is a comprehensive tribute to Auster and his work in today’s New York Times by Alex Williams.

He leaves us with a rich, literary legacy.