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SOURCE: WASHINGTON POST
Doris Grumbach, versatile novelist and literary critic, dies at 104
She survived the 1918 flu pandemic as an infant, served as an officer in the Navy women’s branch during World War II and co-owned a D.C. bookstore. Her books often explored LGBTQ issues.
Ms. Grumbach liked to note that she was one of only a few people to survive the coronavirus pandemic and the 1918 influenza pandemic, which spread when she was an infant. “No one else has had these kind of experiences — the president should put me on some kind of task force,” she joked to her daughter Barbara Wheeler, who confirmed the death but did not cite a cause.
A versatile and observant writer with a voice that was by turns graceful and cantankerous, Ms. Grumbach published seven novels, six memoirs, a children’s book and a biography of author Mary McCarthy — a full shelf of books, although she got off to a late start.
Ms. Grumbach liked to note that she was one of only a few people to survive the coronavirus pandemic and the 1918 influenza pandemic, which spread when she was an infant. “No one else has had these kind of experiences — the president should put me on some kind of task force,” she joked to her daughter Barbara Wheeler, who confirmed the death but did not cite a cause.
A versatile and observant writer with a voice that was by turns graceful and cantankerous, Ms. Grumbach published seven novels, six memoirs, a children’s book and a biography of author Mary McCarthy — a full shelf of books, although she got off to a late start.