Romance author legend, Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, passed away
I was browsing FABB just a while ago and was shocked to read this:
Hello. I am very sorry to inform you all of the death of my mother Kathleen. She took the death of my brother a bit harder than we thought and the cancer came back with a vengence. She passed away Friday morning at 0630 in Princeton, MN. I just want to thank you all for all of your support and being such great fans. My Mom was amazed at all of the people that supported her. Her final book is done, but not finished. We will be trying to polish it up for her. Her editor at Harper Collins has been a great source of stress for my Mom and the rest of us as well, so I am not sure how that will work out, but we are trying to get the book published as fast as possible. We all want this to be her greatest book ever. Thank you again for all of your support.
Heath
Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, age 68, author of many romance classics such as The Flame and the Flower, passed away July 6, 2007 at Fairview Northland Regional Hospital in Princeton. Funeral services will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday (July 11th) at the Church of The Open Door in Maple Grove. A visitation will be held 1 hour prior to the service at the church and also from 5-8:00 p.m. on Tuesday (July 10th) at Strike Funeral Home in Cambridge Chapel.
Our best to the Woodiwiss family.
Labels: for the love of rakes and rogues, romance baby
It's a sad day. I don't know how many children she had, but this also means the son lost his brother and his mother in a very short time.
Love and faith to the Woodiwiss family.
7/08/2007 09:48:00 AM
OMG! That's horrible. I'm sad to hear this and what a sad loss in the romance world.
I have wonderful memories of reading her earlier books. My favorites are Shanna and The Flame and the Flower. She will be missed.
7/08/2007 11:03:00 AM
Babz,
She had 3 sons and many grandchildern.
I will miss so much she is one of the reasons I read romance today.
Angela
7/08/2007 11:04:00 AM
This is just sad. First her son and now Kathleen. The Wolf and The Dove is one of the reasons why I read romance. Until now, it is still one of my favorite books.
KEW was an icon. Many romance authors view her and her books as inspiration. My best to the Woodiwiss family.
7/08/2007 12:35:00 PM
I didn't know she had cancer. And her son too... oh how sad. Actually I have never read KEW but I know of her and her contributions to the romance genre.
7/08/2007 01:25:00 PM
I heard about this, very sad news. According to Amazon, her next book is titled Everlasting. Very appropriate. She won't be forgotten.
7/08/2007 04:03:00 PM
I've never read any of her books, but I hope she doesn't write anything like her daughter. Maybe it was one generation talent.
Did that sound horribly disrespectful to the dead?
7/09/2007 02:22:00 AM
Bex, i think you're mistaken, because as Angela has mentioned, Kathleen didn't have a daughter, but 3 sons. :)
I'm not familiar with KEW's work either, but i know of her because when i started reading romance, everyone kept recommending her to me. Apparently, romance lovers of our generation consider her as the author who revolutionized romance.
7/09/2007 03:40:00 AM
Here's from Wiki:
Her debut novel, The Flame and the Flower, was rejected by agents and hardcover publishers as being too long at 600 pages. Rather than follow the advice of the rejection letters and rewrite the novel, Woodiwiss instead submitted it to paperback publishers. The first publisher on her list, Avon, quickly purchased the novel and arranged an initial 500,000 print run.[1] The Flame and the Flower, was revolutionary, featuring an epic historical romance with a strong heroine and actual sex scenes. This novel, published in 1972, sold over 2.3 million copies in its first four years of publication and is credited with spawning the modern romance genre, becoming the first romance novel "to [follow] the principals into the bedroom."[3][4][5] The success of this novel prompted a new style of writing romance, concentrating primarily on historical fiction tracking the monogamous relationship between a helpless heroines and the hero who rescued her, even if he had been the one to place her in danger.[6] The romance novels which followed in her example featured longer plots, more controversial situations and characters, and more intimate and steamy sex scenes.[7]
Many modern romance novelists cite Woodiwiss as their inspiration. Julia Quinn remarked that "Woodiwiss made women want to read. She gave them an alternative to Westerns and hard-boiled police procedurals. When I was growing up, I saw my mother and grandmother reading and enjoying romances, and when I was old enough to read them myself, I felt as if I had been admitted into a special sisterhood of reading women."[7][8]
Woodiwiss is an avid horseman who at one time lived in a large home on 55 acres in Minnesota. After her husband's death, she moved her permanent residence to Louisiana. She has three sons, Sean, Dorren, and Heath, and numerous grandchildren. Her next book, Everlasting is set for release in late October of 2007.
7/09/2007 03:43:00 AM
I loved KEW's earlier books, Ashes in the Wind, Flame and the Flower... What a tragic loss for romance. And she was so young.
7/09/2007 02:12:00 PM
haha yeah, i don't know why i thought it was her daughter... but son... still, same point.
7/09/2007 06:28:00 PM
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