E.L. Doctorow, ‘Ragtime’ author, dies in NY at 84

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Writer E.L. Doctorow, who wryly reimagined the American experience in such novels as “Ragtime” and “The March” and applied its lessons to the past and future in fiction and nonfiction, has died. He was 84.

His son, Richard Doctorow, confirmed he died Tuesday at a New York hospital from complications of lung cancer. He lived in New York and Sag Harbor.

Considered one of the major authors of the 20th century, Doctorow enjoyed critical and popular success over his 50-year career. He won the National Book Award for fiction in 1986 for “World’s Fair” and the National Book Critics Circle award in 1989 for “Billy Bathgate” and in 2005 for “The March.”

Besides his 10 novels, he published two books of short stories, a play called “Drinks Before Dinner” and numerous essays and articles.

Edgar Lawrence Doctorow was born Jan. 6, 1931, in New York. He was named after Edgar Allan Poe, whom he often disparaged as America’s “greatest bad writer.” His father, David Doctorow, ran a music store, and his mother, Rose Doctorow, was a pianist.

Doctorow graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. He attended graduate school in at Columbia University but left without completing a doctorate. He also served in the U.S. Army, stationed in Germany.