Edmund White

1940 - 2025

Edmund White obituary, 1940-2025, New York, NY

Edmund White

1940 - 2025

BORN

1940

DIED

2025

Edmund White Obituary

Published by Legacy Remembers from Jun. 4 to Jun. 5, 2025.

Edmund White, the pioneering gay author whose body of work earned him the title "the godfather of queer lit," died June 3, 2025, in New York City at the age of 85.?

White's early work, including a debut ("Forgetting Elena") that was praised by author Vladimir Nabokov, left much of its commentary on the gay experience veiled behind metaphor and theme, but his 1979 nonfiction work coauthored with Charles Silverstein, "The Joy of Gay Sex," changed all that. The following year he released "Nocturnes for the King of Naples," an openly gay-themed novel that drew upon his own experiences and marked a shift in his work. Going forward, White would draw heavily from his own life and the lives of other gay men for his work in both fiction and nonfiction. With a body of work spanning more than 30 books and hundreds of articles, he was called "the godfather of queer lit" by the Chicago Tribune for helping establish the modern LGBTQ+ literary scene. His long list of awards and nominations includes a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, a National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Book Foundation, and many others.

Publisher and friend Brian Alessandro mourned White on Facebook: "It was a gift to know him. His enormous talent and intelligence were matched by his uncommon hospitality and rare generosity of spirit. Though I am very saddened by his loss, I am grateful he existed and feel privileged to have known him. Such a legacy, such a corpus. Such a life. And every last bit of it on his own terms. … He is truly our patron saint. I can hear him already cracking a joke about my maudlin sentiments. Even his humor was mischievous but never not shot through with limitless compassion."

By Eric San Juan

(Image: Writer Pictures via AP Images)

Sign Edmund White's Guest Book

Not sure what to say?

July 10, 2025

Mr.Jr. posted to the memorial.

July 4, 2025

Erica R. posted to the memorial.

June 8, 2025

Eric Hoffman posted to the memorial.

7 Entries

Mr.Jr.

July 10, 2025

My Condolences, to the family and friends of Edmund for your loss.

Erica R.

July 4, 2025

I knew Edmund in the late 1980s, before and after he met Hubert. He would visit me, a young homeless woman in London; making sure I was alright, helping to buy me furniture when I was offered my first flat. And giving me the most beautiful presents - a mask from the Venice carnival; perfume picked up in a department store in Paris. A kind, generous and warm-hearted soul, a character far removed from the media attentions or his self-descriptions as a "gay-writer" which meant little to me. Edmund was truly 'an angel as my table.' RIP my friend.

Eric Hoffman

June 8, 2025

His novels opened a new world to so many LGBTQ+ writers. I was fortunate enough to have met him once and he was so kind, generous and supportive. I am sad, but enormously grateful for the incredible influence he had in the literary world. May he rest in eternal peace.

David Hubbell

June 6, 2025

Thank you Edmund!
Rest in Peace!

Richard Dotson

June 5, 2025

Richard Dotson & Marvin We really enjoyed and learned so much at the seminar & question/answer session he gave in Dallas back in the early 90's, but he gave intelligent thought to the entire world. May he
rest in peace. We will remember Edmond White forever.

Maia Banks

June 4, 2025

Edmund showed me such generosity in Paris - I met Michael - we were the young ones then, it was the `90s...Edmund holding forth in his throne of a chair. My father adoring and flirting with him the other. Us kids in the kitchen talking about them. That cool apartment! Edmund. A truly kind and beautiful man.

Danis Banks

June 4, 2025

I knew Ed at Brown, where I took a literature class he taught, on modernist writers he liked. It was the early 1990s, and Jean Genet was on the syllabus. Ed just kind of lectured in a conversational tone that made us students love him. I´d see him around Providence, walking his dog, and we´d sit and talk about writing. He encouraged me to write. I´ll miss his sly smile and wit. He added so much to the world of books.

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Sign Edmund White's Guest Book

Not sure what to say?

July 10, 2025

Mr.Jr. posted to the memorial.

July 4, 2025

Erica R. posted to the memorial.

June 8, 2025

Eric Hoffman posted to the memorial.