Iris Murdoch

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Irish novelist and professor of philosophy with a Ph.D. who was influenced by Sartre and had a skill for black comedy. Some of her works include "Under The Net," 1954 and "A Severed Head," 1961. She wrote 26 remarkable novels, four plays, four books on philosophy and one book of poetry. She wrote completely in longhand. She decided to be a writer at the age of nine, at the time of having a happy childhood. She not only achieved her goal but received honorary doctorates from major universities and became a Dame of the British Empire. Her husband wrote that she was "the most genuinely modest person" he had ever met. She worked secretly and quietly, not talking about the book she was on, never needing to compare or contrast, never interested in reviews or needing reassurance. An unattractive intellectual, plain and awkward with straggly hair, she managed a feat that is enviable to many beautiful women. She fell in love at first sight and had 32 devoted years with her mate. After her first date with John Bayley, a five-year-younger Oxford don, her journal entry for 6/03/1954 read, "St. Anthony's Dance. Fell down the steps, and seem to have fallen in love with John. We didn't dance much." They married almost three years later, in late 1956; no children. She had, nonetheless, left a trail of former lovers, mostly those who had stimulated her intellectually. Early in 1943 she wrote to a friend that "I should tell you that I have parted company with my virginity... there have been two men. I don't think that I love either one - but I like them." At the age of 77, she was suffering from Alzheimer's and was "forgetful, but still able to look after herself." She and Bayley, her unfailing companion, still would remember a moment together, a glance, a shared thought, and have the same gentle exchange, "closer and closer apart." Murdoch died 2/08/1999, 4:00 PM GMT in Oxford, England from complications associated with Alzheimer's. She had been transferred to a nursing home for the last three weeks and was "just smiling at us and being conscious of the fact that we were loving her," Bayley said. "She had such a wonderfully good death, so calm." Link to Wikipedia biography