Roy Doliner

1932 - 2015
Roy Doliner, of New York City, NY, died peacefully in his sleep, the night of April 11th.

He was born in Brooklyn, on April 9th, 1932, to George and Sylvia Doliner. He attended Boy's High where he was a varsity baseball player, covering left field and hitting clean-up.

He graduated from New York University with a degree in philosophy, studying under Sidney Hook. The draft was on, but his academic achievements enabled him to defer enlistment until graduation. He entered the U.S. Army in the mid 50's, at the tail end of the Korean War.



Roy was singled out by the intelligence branch of the U.S. Army. He was placed in the signal corps, as a cover, and was stationed in Verdun, France, where he trained and operated covertly on behalf of his country.



He continued to work in the intelligence community after his discharge. Roy never discussed the specifics of any operations, though many of them took place in Cuba, just before, and during, the time of the revolution.



Roy's first novel, "Young Man Willing" was published by Scribner's shortly thereafter. Set against the theater scene of 1950's New York, it won strong reviews and earned the young writer early notoriety.



Roy was a complex man, one with many seeming contradictions. He was a cold-warrior, doing what he believed was his part to preserve the freedoms and liberties fundamental to the country he loved. But he was also a young New York writer, living and working amongst the actors, the painters, and the poets of 1950's Greenwich Village bohemia.



In 1964, he married Aye Than, a glamorous Burmese national working at the United Nations Development Program. She was his life-long partner.



He went on to write 8 more novels. He was published by Simon and Schuster, Doubleday, Viking, Crown, and the like. They were released as hardcovers and paperbacks, and were translated around the world. His work was regularly optioned by Hollywood studios, and he was hired to write dialogue for many films, including Harper (1966), starring Paul Newman.



Roy's work was reviewed in newspapers and journals around the world. He published literary criticism and wrote plays. He was a professor at New York University, teaching creative writing. His class was one of the most popular in the continuing education department, where he taught for many years.



Roy's early success marked him for a life of significant creative achievement, even fame, but illness would cut that short. Through it all, he was a devoted husband, a loving father, and an adoring grandfather. Honor and conviction were hallmarks of his character. He valued friendship, good cheer, arts and letters, and a good boxing match. Above all, his family.



He is survived by his sons, John and Sam, his daughters-in-law, Jennifer and Beatrice, his grandchildren, Anabelle, Lila, Isaiah, and Samantha.



There will be a private scattering of ashes in New York, his hometown of 83 years.