Author Katherine Dunn attained fame for her novel “Geek Love.”
Katherine Dunn, an author who attained fame for her novel “Geek Love,” died May 11 at her home in Portland, Oregon, according to multiple news sources. She was 70.
Dunn died of lung-cancer complications, according to The Oregonian/OregonLive.
“Geek Love,” which was published in 1989, tells the story of a traveling circus run by a couple, Aloysius “Al” Binewski and “Crystal” Lil. When the show starts to fail, they decide to create a freak show by altering the genes of their children by using assorted drugs and radioactive material.
The book, which became a best-seller, was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1989.
Dunn also wrote extensively about professional boxing.
“For nearly 10 years, Katherine Dunn’s brilliant prose graced the pages of Willamette Week,” editor and publisher Mark Zusman told Willamette Week writer Nigel Jaquiss. “Her boxing coverage, her weekly column and her reportage on the underbelly of Portland were without parallel. She was a loyal friend, a great raconteur, and had as firm a handle on the tools of our craft as any writer I had the pleasure of working with.
“While I was her editor, I always felt like she was my mentor.”
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She was born Oct. 24, 1945, in Garden City, Kansas, the second youngest of five children. After the family moved to the Pacific Northwest, Dunn attended high school in Oregon and attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon.
She is survived by a son, Eli Dapolonia.
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