Munro was the celebrated author of short story collections such as “The Love of a Good Woman” and “Dear Life.”
Alice Munro, Nobel Prize winner and writer known primarily for her short stories, has died. She was 92 years old.
Munro’s family confirmed the author’s death to The Globe and the Post on May 13. Munro suffered from dementia for over ten years and died in her nursing home in Ontario.
“Alice Munro is a national treasure – a writer of tremendous depth, empathy and humanity whose work is read, admired and appreciated by readers across Canada and around the world,” said Kristin Cochrane, CEO of Penguin Random House Canada. “Alice’s writings have also inspired countless writers, and her work leaves an indelible mark on our literary landscape. All of us at Penguin Random House Canada mourn this loss and join our colleagues at Penguin Random House in the US, UK and around the world in appreciation for all that Alice Munro left behind.”
Munro was born in Ontario, Canada in 1931. Her father, Robert Eric Laidlow, was a fox breeder and her mother, Anne Clarke Laidlaw, was a teacher. Munro was the eldest of three children and had a younger brother born in 1936 and a younger sister born in 1937. She was an avid reader as a child and cited writers such as Eudora Welty, Carson McCullers and Flannery O’Connor as influences
Munro began writing fiction as a teenager, publishing her first short story in 1950 before going to the University of Western Ontario to study English and journalism. She often drew inspiration from her own background, incorporating elements such as her father’s fox farm and her mother’s Parkinson’s disease into her writing.
“You’re lucky to be born in a place where no one else does, because then you can say, ‘Obviously I can write better than anyone else in high school,'” Munro said. The Guardian 2013 about life as a writer from her hometown. “You have no idea about the competition.”