American writer Joan Didion died at age 87 Thursday from Parkinson’s disease, her publisher confirmed. She died in her New York home.
“We are deeply saddened to report that Joan Didion died earlier this morning at her home in New York due to complications from Parkinson’s disease,” Penguin Random House/Knopf said in a statement.
Didion wrote about 1960s counterculture in her book of essays, “Slouching Towards Bethlehem,” the New York Post reported. In 2005, she won the National Book Award for Nonfiction for her memoir “The Year of Magical Thinking,” according to the outlet.
NEW YORK – MARCH 29: Director David Hare, writer Joan Didion and actress Vanessa Redgrave take stage during curtain call for the opening night of “The Year Of Magical Thinking” at Booth theater on March 29, 2007 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)
Didion gained credibility with feature articles in Life Magazine and The Saturday Evening Post that evaluated post-war American life, according to The New York Times. She mainly found her inspiration in California, her native state. She captured its harshness, beauty, appeal, promise, and cultural influence, according to the NYT. (RELATED: Famous International Singer Carlos Marin Dies At Age 53)
She was also awarded the National Humanities Medal by former President Barack Obama in 2012, according to the Post. Obama described Didion as one of the “sharpest and most respected observers of American politics and culture.” (RELATED: English Actor Jack Hedley Dies At Age 92)
NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 11: Director Griffin Dunne and Writer Joan Didion attend the 55th New York Film Festival presentation of – “Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold” at Alice Tully Hall on October 11, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images)
Didion frequently wrote about San Francisco’s hippie movement and evaluated 1960s American life, according to the Post.
Didion is preceded in death by her husband and daughter, according to the outlet.