Plan B Forum

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.

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.

“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.