Famed British Fantasy Writer Diana Wynne Jones Dies at 76
RSSBy Lauren Barack
British fantasy writer Diana Wynne Jones passed away Saturday, March 26 after a two-year battle with cancer. She was 76. "I feel so privileged to have been able to say goodbye," says Gaiman by email, who last saw Wynne Jones Friday, March 25. "She's been my friend for over 25 years, and the fact that she was one of my favorite authors was a bonus to her being the funniest, kindest, wisest, and most practical person I knew. I always felt so lucky to be her friend, and now that she's gone, I still do." Her more than 40 books, including "The Chrestomanci" series, beguiled, entertained, and thrilled librarians and their young students around the globe, who enjoyed being introduced to the magical realms Wynne Jones spun throughout her novels. "It is such a pleasure to put, for the first time, into the eager hands of a student such amazing stories as A Tale of Time City (HarperCollins, 1987), "The Chrestomanci" series, or Howl's Moving Castle," says Gwyneth Jones, a board member for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and a teacher-librarian at Murray Hill Middle School in Laurel, MD. "These books by Diana Wynne Jones, all lyrically written, some featuring alternate English histories, flavored with Dr. Whoish flair, and simmering with glorious Steampunk undertones are all wrapped together with the romance of a great gaslight adventure," says Jones. "Diana Wynne Jones's voice in all her novels sings through as fresh, creative, snarky, prickly, and immeasurably appealing. There's also a complexity and thoughtfulness to them that bring to mind comparisons to Philip Pullman and the steamy worlds he created with "His Dark Materials" [series]. But honestly, she was a writer without compare!" Born in London in 1934, Wynne Jones eventually found herself at Oxford Unive Her stories are said to have influenced contemporary colleagues as well, including authors J. K. Rowling, Jane Yolen, Robin McKinley, and, of course Gaiman, to whom she dedicated Hexwood (Methuen, 1993), and who Wynne Jones reportedly based the young Chrestomanci upon in The Lives of Christopher Chant. "As an author she was astonishing," writes Gaiman, on his website. "The most astonishing thing was the ease with which she'd do things (which may be the kind of thing that impresses other writers more than it does the public, who take it for granted that all writer are magicians. But those of us who write for a living know how hard it is to do what she did). The honest, often prickly characters, the inspired, often unlikely plots, the jaw-dropping resolutions." With many of her older books re-released in recent years, her stories will likely continue to delight children and older readers going forward-even as friends and colleagues mourn her passing. "Diana was one of our truly wonderful and most cherished children's authors," says HarperCollins publisher Victoria Barnsley in a statement. "Her rich imagination inspired many thousands of children. She will be greatly missed by all of us."
Wynne Jones was known for her rich fantasy stories, which caught the attention of children and adults alike, including writer Neil Gaiman, who considered her a dear friend. Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki adapted her novel Howl's Moving Castle (Greenwillow, 1986) into an animated film, and in 2006 it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
rsity's St. Anne's College where her writing was likely influenced by authors C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, whose lectures she attended, according to her publisher HarperCollins. She was the recipient of a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award in 1984 for Archer's Goon and in 1986 she received an honor for Howl's Moving Castle, which was also an American Library Association Notable book. Her numerous literary honors include the Guardian Award in 1977, the British Fantasy Society's Karl Edward Wagner Award in 1999, and she was a runner up twice for the Carnegie Medal in 1977 for the Charmed Life (Macmillan, 1977) and in and 1988 for The Lives of Christopher Chant (HarperCollins, 1998).
