| 1 | Name: | Ms. Joan Didion | |
| Year Elected: | 2006 | ||
| Class: | 5. The Arts, Professions, and Leaders in Public & Private Affairs | ||
| Subdivision: | 501. Creative Artists | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Deceased | ||
| Birth Date: | 1934 | ||
| Death Date: | December 23, 2021 | ||
Joan Didion was born in Sacramento, California, on December 5, 1934, and in 1956 received a B.A. degree in English from the University of California, Berkeley. Her novels include "Run River," 1963; "Play It as It Lays" (1970); "A Book of Common Prayer" (1977); "Democracy" (1984); and "The Last Thing He Wanted" (1996). Her nonfiction includes "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" (1968); "The White Album" (1978); "Salvador" (1983), "Miami" (1987); "After Henry" (1992); "Political Fictions" (2001); "Fixed Ideas" (2003); "Where I Was From" (2003); and "Blue Nights" (2011). In 1964 she married John Gregory Dunne (May 25, 1932 - December 30, 2003). Their only child, Quintana Roo Dunne, was born March 3, 1966 and died August 26, 2005. Her best selling memoir "The Year of Magical Thinking" (2005) was borne of this blindsiding by death. A dramatic adaption, written by Ms. Didion and starring Vanessa Redgrave, opened on Broadway in 2007. For her "distinctive blend of spare, elegant prose and fierce intelligence," Ms. Didion was honored with the National Book Foundation's 2007 Medal for Distinguished Contribution in American Letters and the 2012 National Humanities Medal. | |||