Writer E.L. Doctorow Dies at 84

Celebrated American author and part-time Hamptons resident E.L. Doctorow died Tuesday in New York. He was 84 years old.

The New York Times reported the cause was complications from lung cancer.

Doctorow was known for his works of historical fiction. Perhaps the most notable among them were Ragtime, World’s Fair, The Book of Daniel, Billy Bathgate and The March. He’s also worked as a professor, including at the college campus in Southampton.

The Bronx native has been the recipient of the National Book Award, three National Book Critics Circle awards, two PEN/Faulkner awards, the Edith Wharton Citation for Fiction and the presidentially conferred National Humanities Medal.

In 2014, Doctorow published the novel Andrew’s Brain, which raises questions about truth and memory, brain and mind, and personality and fate.