Diana Wynne Jones dies at 76 - British fantasy writer influenced many authors -- Famed British fantasy, science fiction, and children's author, Diana Wynne Jones has died. Ms. Jones passed away March 26, 2011 from a two-year battle with cancer, according to a listserv of children's literature professionals. The author inspired many children's fantasy writers working today, including American author, Jane Yolen.
Ms. Jones is known for several fantasy series, including the Chrestomanci series; the Derkholm series; Dalemark Quartet; the Castle series, and Magids series.
Her novel, Howl's Moving Castle, was adapted into an animated film in 2004. The film was directed by Hayao Miyazaki and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated feature.
Ms. Jones's work is critically acclaimed. Several of her novels have been nominated or shortlisted for awards, including the Carnegie Medal, Mythopoeic Fantasy, British Fantasy Award, Boston Globe-Horn Book, and World Fantasy Award.
Despite dozens of novels and a long career as an author, many of Ms. Jones's readers believe she has not received adequate recognition. Ms. Jones was gracious about the seeming oversight.
About J. K. Rowling's global commercial success with her Harry Potter series, for example, a series many say bears several resemblances to threads in Ms. Jones's work, she told the Guardian in 2003, "I think that she [Rowling] read my books as a young person and remembered lots of stuff; there are so many striking similarities." Asked about any seeming "downloads" of story elements on the part of Ms. Rowling, she added, "I feel slightly aggrieved, but it happens so easily - one retains something in one's mind. I would like to ask her about it, but she's hard to meet: she was very frightened by all the publishing furore."
Diana Wynne Jones was born in London in 1934 and studied at Oxford with both C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. In 2007, she received the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement.
R.I.P. Diana Wynne Jones. Condolences to her family, friends, colleagues, and her many readers.
PHOTOS: See a sampling of Ms. Jones's many book covers in the lefthand column of this page, or you can also see them here.
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