US EditionEdmund White, acclaimed novelist of gay life, dies at 85
- Edmund White, an influential American novelist and chronicler of gay life, died at age 85, with his agent confirming his death on Wednesday, 2025.
- White's death follows a lifetime shaped by experiences including witnessing the 1969 Stonewall raids and surviving HIV infection diagnosed in 1985.
- He authored over 30 books including the bestselling autobiographical trilogy started by "A Boy's Own Story" and was part of the Violet Quill writing group.
- In 2019, White was honored with a National Book Award recognizing his lifetime contributions to literature, joining notable past recipients such as Toni Morrison and Philip Roth.
- White’s legacy reflects a bridging of gay subculture and broader literature, documenting cultural shifts from repression through liberation and the AIDS crisis to modern gay rights.
126 Articles
126 Articles
An entire generation, on both sides of the Atlantic, recognized itself in the work of this writer who died on June 3 in New York, between the "out of the closet" of the 1970s and erotic euphoria of the 1980s.
With Edmund White, who died last Tuesday in New York at the age of 85, the last of the great American authors who for two centuries were able to plug that cultural gap between the United States and Europe that no longer has a remedy has died. Like Henry James or his teacher/friend/nemesis Susan Sontag, White served as a cross pollinator between the two continents.
Groundbreaking gay author Edmund White passes away aged 85
The Guardian. He died on Tuesday evening while waiting for an ambulance after experiencing stomach issues.A major voice in modern queer literature, Edmund White left an indelible mark and his work inspired many authors who came after him, including Garth Greenwell, Édouard Louis, Ocean Vuong and more.Born in Ohio in 1940, White lived his early years in Illinois. He was accepted to Harvard but decided to study at the University of Michigan so he …
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