“This is Anne’s son Christopher and it breaks my heart to inform you that earlier tonight Anne passed away due to complications resulting from a stroke,” her author son Christopher Rice Tweeted and wrote on Rice’s Facebook page. “She left us almost nineteen years to the day my father, her husband Stan, died. The immensity of our family’s grief cannot be overstated,” he went on to write. “As my mother, her support for me was unconditional—she taught me to embrace my dreams, reject conformity and challenge the dark voices of fear and self-doubt. As a writer, she taught me to defy genre boundaries and surrender to my obsessive passions. In her final hours, I sat beside her hospital bed in awe of her accomplishments and her courage, awash in memories of a life that took us from the fog laced hills of the San Francisco Bay Area to the magical streets of New Orleans to the twinkling vistas of Southern California.” Christopher further explained that his mother will be interred in the family’s mausoleum at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans in a private ceremony. In 2022, there will be a celebration of her life in New Orleans. “This event will be open to the public and will invite the participation of her friends, readers and fans who brought her such joy and inspiration throughout her life,” Christopher added. Rice was born on October 4, 1941 and grew up in New Orleans, which served as a backdrop for many of her novels. The French Quarter and her historic Garden District home was the setting for Interview With the Vampire, her first novel, which debuted in 1976. In 1994, the book was made into a movie starring Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Kirsten Dunst and Tom Cruise. Some of her other novels include Feast of All Saints, which became a miniseries, The Witching Hour, Servant of the Bones, Merrick, Blackwood Farm, Blood Canticle, Violin, Cry to Heave and Prince Lestat, a continuation of the Vampire Chronicles. She recently co-authored Ramses the Damned: The Reign of Osiris with her son Christopher, which will be out in February 2022. Rice had been married to her husband Stan for 41 years when he died of brain cancer in 2002. Her 5-year-old daughter Michele died in 1972 of leukemia. Her devastating loss of her child inspired Rice to write Interview With the Vampire. “I was a sad, broken and despairing atheist,” she told theIndependent back in 2014. “I pitched myself into writing and made up a story about vampires. I didn’t know it at the time but it was all about my daughter, the loss of her and the need to go on living when faith is shattered. But the lights do come back on, no matter how dark it seems.” Ever devoted to her legions of fans, she offered the following writing guidance. “You do have a story inside you; it lies articulate and waiting to be written—behind your silence and your suffering.” On Facebook, Christopher described what an impact his mother had on so many people and was so prolific. “As she kissed Anne goodbye, her younger sister Karen said, ‘What a ride you took us on, kid.’ “I think we can all agree,” added Christopher. “Let us take comfort in the shared hope that Anne is now experiencing firsthand the glorious answers to many great spiritual and cosmic questions, the quest for which defined her life and career. Throughout much of her final years, your contributions to this page brought her much joy, along with a profound sense of friendship and community.” In a 2017 Facebook live when talking about her writing, Rice was asked what keeps her motivated, especially when it’s frustrating. “There’s no high like having a finished novel out there going there to meet its audience. …It’s truly like giving birth to a child. Our novels are our babies…,” she said. “I hope that they will survive beyond us… That’s what keeps me going.” Next, sad movies to watch on Netflix right now.
