R.I.P. for William Gay, Contemporary Southern Gothic Fiction Master: the Day the Banjo Music Died

So a friend sent me this notice this morning, and I’m sorry to hear it: William Gay, author of The Long Home (1999), which my editor, Greg Michalson, edited and published; I Hate To See That Evening Sun Go Down (2002), which includes the masterpiece creepy story, “The Paper Hanger”; and Provinces of Night (2000), his best book, in my opinion. He was a great Southern Gothic writer, and although he may be viewed as a poor-man’s Cormac McCarthy, that’s a pretty good thing to be. McCarthy casts a titanic shadow over that literary genre, and the best of William Gay gives him some good competition. For years now I’ve been waiting for his last novel, which has been slated to be published since 2005, it seems, titled The Lost Country. I guess we’ll have to keep waiting. He had two good films made from his fiction, Bloodworth and I Hate To See That Evening Sun Go Down. Here’s a notice about his death:
http://www.nashvillescene.com/countrylife/archives/2012/02/24/william-gay-acclaimed-tennessee-author-dead-at-68