Ellen Glasgow

popular name: James Baldwin

date_of_death: December 1, 1987

age: 63

cause_of_death: Stomach cancer

claim_to_fame: Writers and Poets

best_know_for: James Baldwin was an American author, playwright, poet and activist. His work explored the intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in the Western society of the United States during the mid twentieth-century. He used themes of masculinity, sexuality, race, and class to create narratives that ran parallel with some of the major political movements toward social change of the twentieth-century. His best known work includes Notes of a Native Son (1955), Giovanni's Room (1956), The Fire Next Time (1963), and No Name in the Street (1972). Two of his works, 'Remember This House' and 'If Beale Street Could Talk', were adapted into Academy Award-winning films.

popular name: Mary Shelley

date_of_death: February 1, 1851

age: 53

cause_of_death: Brain tumor

claim_to_fame: Writers and Poets

best_know_for: Mary Shelley (1797–1851) was an English novelist, best known for writing Frankenstein, one of the most influential works in the horror genre. She was born Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, the daughter of the feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft and philosopher William Godwin. Her mother died only 11 days after her birth, leaving her with a strong intellectual legacy and a challenging childhood. In 1814, at the age of 16, Mary began a romantic relationship with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who was already married. Despite societal taboos, they eloped to France in 1816, where they faced personal hardships, including the death of their first child. That same year, during a summer spent with Lord Byron at Lake Geneva, she conceived the idea for Frankenstein, which was published in 1818 when she was just 20. Percy Shelley died in 1822 in a drowning accident, leaving Mary a widow with a young son. She continued to write and publish, but struggled financially and emotionally. She wrote novels, short stories, travelogues, and biographies, though none gained the lasting fame of Frankenstein. She also edited and promoted Percy’s works. Mary Shelley died on February 1, 1851, from a brain tumor at the age of 53. She left behind a legacy as a pioneering figure in Gothic literature and a trailblazer for women in literature, particularly through her groundbreaking work with Frankenstein, which explored themes of creation, responsibility, and the human condition. She was laid to rest at St. Peter's Church in Bournemouth UK.

popular name: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

date_of_death: July 7, 1930

age: 71

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: Writers and Poets

best_know_for: Over 125 years after his creation, Sherlock Holmes remains the most popular fictional detective in history. Arthur Conan Doyle is best known for the 60 stories he wrote about Sherlock Holmes. His body of work includes nearly 200 novels, short stories, poems, historical books and pamphlets.