Bestselling author Eric Jerome Dickey has died after battling a longtime illness.
He was 59.
Dickey penned a total of 29 novels, which included beloved titles, Milk in My Coffee, Sleeping with Strangers, Friends and Lovers and Bad Men and Wicked Women.
Dickey’s longtime publicist Emily Canders took to Twitter to pay tribute to her client and friend.
“As Eric’s publicist for many years, I’ll always remember what a kind, genuine person he was. Even when I was a young publicist (that definitely made mistakes here & there!) he was always so gracious. And it’s rare to find fans more loyal than his,” Canders tweeted.
Dickey’s publisher also took to the social media platform to express their condolences and to honor the veteran wordsmith.
“It is with great sadness that we confirm that beloved New York Times bestselling author Eric Jerome Dickey passed away on Jan. 3, at age 59. He will be greatly missed by us at Dutton and by the readers and fans he adored. @ericjdickey,” the publishing house wrote.
Dickey graduated from the University of Memphis with a degree in computer system technology before heading to Los Angeles to pursue a career in engineering. He worked as a stand-up comedian before eventually attending a writing class after encouragement from a friend, and the rest was history.
But through the urging of a friend, Dickey attended a writing class.
“I actually went to the class with a friend, who talked me into taking a class with her because she didn’t want to be the only African American in the class. And I went reluctantly, and I stayed and she dropped out. I took a lot of classes, I mean, and I would sometimes take class once a week,” he told NPR back in 2006.
More than seven million copies of Dickey’s books have been published worldwide. Penguin, parent company of Dutton Books, says that due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions, there will be no services at this time.
He is survived by his four daughters.
