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Bedford mourns death of Michael Crichton

November
5

Bestselling author Michael Crichton has died of cancer at 66 in Los Angeles, reports the Hollywood Reporter and a slew of other media outlets. His books were made into fabulously successful movies, “Jurassic Park” and “The Andromeda Strain” and he is also the creator of the popular television series, ER.

His family released a statement and a story appeared in LoHud.com’s news update this afternoon.

He had kept it relatively private that he as battling cancer, says the Hollywood Reporter .

In Westchester County, he has been considered a local author sharing the Bedford community address with other notables like Ralph Lauren and Chevy Chase.

Indeed, Crichton lived in Bedford. In 1996, he bought a 13.2-acre estate with a 15-room, Tudor-style house in Bedford and then promptly filed paperwork with the town for major renovations. But, as part of 2001 divorce his wife Ann-Marie she got the house as part of the separation agreement, according to a 2003 story in Forbes magazine.

Nevertheless, Librarian Ann Cloonan, director of the Bedford Village Free Library, said she recalls hearing he was a big library supporter in communities where he has lived. He was known for generously donating funds and his time. When Bedford Village, for example, planned a building expansion more than a decade ago, Cloonan, says that staff recalls that he spoke at the library during a capital campaign fund-raiser.

tjndc5-5b3c78wuhsw8op6e6jt_thumbnail.jpgHe also was a featured author at Intrigue, a literary lunch with authors at Tappan Hill in Tarrytown to benefit the Katonah Museum of Art and sponsored by The Journal News in 2000. (Photo from The Journal News, 12/12/2000).

Cloonan said the library had fairly substantial collection of Crichton books and would pull out some because “always when this happens people come in looking for the books.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 at 4:17 pm by Barbara Nackman.
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About this blog
Four longtime Journal News reporters share their insights about fiction, non-fiction, poetry and short stories by bringing books discussions online and exploring the local literati scene. Lots of people say they are booklovers, but Elizabeth Ganga, Barbara Livingston Nackman, Ken Valenti and Randi Weiner really are!


What they blog about
Book Notes: An ongoing chat about events, authors and news items about books, libraries, authors and everything literary from metro news reporters Barbara Livingston Nackman and Elizabeth Ganga. Barbara has been a reporter for The Journal News since 1997. She covers municipalities in Putnam County and keeps track of book events everywhere - and began her career writing about books and libraries. Lisa has been a reporter for The Journal News since 2000, after working at several newspapers in Connecticut. She has covered cities and town in sourthern and northern Westchester and is a big Jane Austen fan (though she reads everything from history to mysteries). Both reporters work out of the Mount Kisco bureau and frequently trade tidbits about books and events.


Novel Pursuits: Ken Valenti sheds light on his ongoing experiences as a novelist and poet. ÊHe talks about his trials and tribulations including musings about projects, readings, successes, and even insights into what he is reading and finds interesting. A reporter for The Journal News and its forerunners for more than 20 years, Ken now covers transportation. His first love has been writing fiction, but he's only begun pursuing that dream in recent years. He has been a reader and fiction editor for the journal Inkwell, and has published one short story in another fiction journal.


Seasoned Works: Randi Weiner dishes up an ongoing discussion about all books - old and savory. Though Randi keeps readers abreast of school issues most days and reads lots of children's and young adult books, current science fiction and murder mysteries, her overriding passion is older works generally written before 1940. She chats online about favorites and newly discovered treasures as well as book exhibits and talks related to the dusty, the musty and the marvelous illustrators of the past. She has been a reporter since 1976, with Gannett since 1989. And for the record, she says she has a personal library of more than 4,000 volumes.


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