Tony Horwitz has died

May 28, 2019 2:51 PM

Tony Horwitz died yesterday One of his last published short pieces was this message of hope.
posted by mareli (30 comments total)

I just downloaded his books the other day and added them to my TBR pile. I'll be moving it up a few spots, I'm looking forward to reading Confederates in the Attic.

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posted by Fizz at 3:15 PM on May 28, 2019 [1 favorite]

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posted by lazaruslong at 3:17 PM on May 28, 2019

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posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 3:18 PM on May 28, 2019

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posted by nightrecordings at 3:29 PM on May 28, 2019

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posted by Lesser Spotted Potoroo at 3:29 PM on May 28, 2019

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posted by jameaterblues at 3:32 PM on May 28, 2019

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posted by dannyboybell at 3:42 PM on May 28, 2019

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He was only 60. Damn.
I enjoyed Confederates in the Attic quite a bit - it was a good read.
posted by mosk at 3:55 PM on May 28, 2019 [1 favorite]

Jill Lepore in the New Yorker, another obit.
posted by mareli at 4:05 PM on May 28, 2019 [2 favorites]

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posted by JoeXIII007 at 4:24 PM on May 28, 2019

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Here's a brief appreciation for Horwitz as a writer of popular history from Erik Loomis.
posted by col_pogo at 4:24 PM on May 28, 2019 [2 favorites]

Godddamnit.
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posted by sciencegeek at 4:36 PM on May 28, 2019 [1 favorite]

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posted by allthinky at 5:08 PM on May 28, 2019

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posted by dubitable at 5:37 PM on May 28, 2019

Confederates in the Attic will always have a cherished place on my bookshelf as the book I read while Mrs Dank was in labour with our eldest child, passing it back and forth between us.

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posted by dr_dank at 6:06 PM on May 28, 2019 [2 favorites]

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posted by apartment dweller at 7:17 PM on May 28, 2019

Confederates in the attic is the only book of his I’ve read, and it was excellent.
posted by PussKillian at 7:58 PM on May 28, 2019

This is the worst possible way to learn about his new book (which sounds as fascinating as the rest have been). My parents and I spent quite a while using his books to read in parallel and have a sort of book club - everything except Confederates in the Attic, because my dad could not get over the empathy barrier enough to be interested in anyone on the Confederate side.

What a loss.

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posted by janell at 8:15 PM on May 28, 2019

NPR's reporting of this today said that he was in D.C. and was going to do some kind of talk and the cancelled notice on the bookstore's website is how many first learned of his death.

I could swear I just heard an interview with him, like within the past week.

Too young.

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posted by hippybear at 8:34 PM on May 28, 2019

I've read my copy of Blue Latitudes twice, loaned it out a few times, and recommended it many more. He was a damn fine writer, and I've got more of his legacy to catch up with.

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posted by bryon at 8:36 PM on May 28, 2019

Oh, this is a loss. 60 is too young in the 21st century.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 9:10 PM on May 28, 2019

A Voyage Long and Strange was exceedingly good. The premise of the book is that--whereas Plymouth Rock seems to be the founding myth for so many Americans--he decided to tell all the stories of European incursion into what is now the United States that came before that. He does this by visiting the places and talking to people about what these stories still mean today.

It hadn't occurred to me to go digging for other books by the same guy. It's sad that he's gone, but I'm glad to have been handed this list of books that look to have similar flavor.
posted by polecat at 11:22 PM on May 28, 2019

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posted by Pendragon at 12:37 AM on May 29, 2019

Goddamn it, that's terrible news. I stumbled on "Confederates in the Attic" years and years ago in a used bookstore and was struck by his warmth and curiosity and genuine interest in the people he met while writing the book - many of them oddballs and obsessives - while not shying away from examining the troubling context and implications of our various cultural narratives of the Civil War. Yet somehow I never got around to reading much else by him. Clearly I need to, although it seems poor tribute to the man to be reminded to do so by his death.

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posted by soundguy99 at 3:53 AM on May 29, 2019

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posted by Halloween Jack at 4:39 AM on May 29, 2019

Loved that. "Lowering the temperature " of political debate is a skill rarely seen. If even a fraction of people could do this the fissure would close a little and maybe even some day weaken the hold that politicians have on us. Our visceral hatred of the "other side" has stolen our power to decide what is best for us.
posted by waving at 5:12 AM on May 29, 2019 [3 favorites]

Confederates in the Attic is what I answer when people ask my favorite book, although answering that question is always difficult.

I am also fond of the work of his wife, Geraldine Brooks, and always thought it was neat that those two particularly curious minds found each other and built a life together. Right now, it's her that I'm thinking most about.

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posted by dlugoczaj at 6:25 AM on May 29, 2019 [3 favorites]

"Also, I’m a writer, a trade unrenowned for temperance."

That's gold, and should be on his tombstone.
posted by prepmonkey at 8:20 AM on May 29, 2019

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posted by evilDoug at 8:47 AM on May 29, 2019

Oh, no. I've read all his books, and parts of them have made me see the world in a much richer way. I'm in tears -- such a loss, so soon.
posted by kestralwing at 11:29 AM on May 29, 2019