Lloyd Alexander, the fantasy author who produced such young adult classics as The Chronicles of Prydain, passed away this morning.
News from a mailing list this morning - Lloyd Alexander passed away today. He died in hospice care at home. He survived his wife of 62 years, Janine Denni, by two weeks. The two met in Paris while Alexander was attending the University of Paris.
His last book, THE GOLDEN DREAM OF CARLO CHUCHIO, will appear this August from Holt. Alexander said of the book, "I have finished my life work."
In the course of his career, Alexander prroduced over 40 books, primarily fantasy aimed at young adults, the most notable being THE PRYDAIN CHRONICLES, which consisted of the five books, THE BOOK OF THREE, THE BLACK CASTLE, THE CASTLE OF LLYR, TARAN WANDERER, and THE HIGH KING, which won the 1970 NEwberry award. THE BLACK CAULDRON was the inspiration for the Disney movie by the same name released in 1985. Other series by Alexander included THE WESTMARK TRILOGY and the VESPER HOLLY series.
Alexander was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1924 and decided he wanted to be a writer at the age of 15, an declaration that horrified his parents. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army in intellgience and counter-intelligence. Many of his books are set in Wales, England, where he did much of his Army training and Welsh mythology and the Welsh work THE MABINOGION heavily influence his stories.
