Free Republic

The National Book Award-winning author of Ragtime and Billy Bathgate, E.L. Doctorow, died Tuesday in New York, his family said. He was 84. The author's son, Richard, told The New York Times his father died of complications from lung cancer. Doctorow's agent, Ron Bernstein, confirmed the news to the Los Angeles Times. Doctorow was known for writing historical fiction in the form of a dozen novels, three volumes of short fiction and a stage drama. He also wrote essays on literature and politics. He won the National Book Award for his novel, Ragtime, which was later adapted into a Broadway...

BY BART JONES STAFF WRITER May 23, 2004, 7:17 PM EDT E.L. Doctorow, one of the most celebrated writers in America, was nearly booed off the stage at Hofstra University Sunday when he gave a commencement address lambasting President George W. Bush and effectively calling him a liar. Booing that came mainly from the crowd in the stands became so intense that Doctorow stopped speaking at one point... Doctorow, who spent virtually all of his 20-minute address in Hempstead criticizing Bush, told the crowd that like himself the president is a storyteller. But "sadly they are not good stories this...