Pulitzer-Winning Journalist Tony Horwitz Dies At 60

[ex-khobar Andy]

Maybe not a household name; but we attended a lecture he gave on Wednesday last week and he died yesterday.

Horwitz wrote "Confederates in the Attic" which is an entertaining trip around the South talking to Civil War re-enactors and those to whom the 'War Between the States' or the 'War of Northern Aggression'- as it is known there - did not end at Appomattox. He also wrote 'Spying on the South' - a story about Frederick Law Olmsted and his peregrinations around the South prior to the Civil War.

We bought both books: I have them in front of me, signed by him and I have been enjoying Confederates in the Attic.

It's quite shocking on a personal level: he was almost ten years younger than me, and he looked in good shape. He certainly, and you can tell this from the books, was an active man.

[Long Run]

Heart disease can hide and present itself at any time. Especially difficult when you have a connection and the person has made an impact. Horwitz sounds like one of the good ones, and he appears to have lived a good life in many ways. Age 60 is here for more than a few of us, and the increasing aches and ailments paint a clear picture of our future.

[RayThom]

“Last week I saw my cardiologist,” Mr. Horwitz wrote in The Times last month. “He told me I drink too much.”

A lot of writers are smokers, too.

60? Way too soon... but it's to late now for him to have a chance at changing his life style.