We are sorry to learn of the death of Lesley Stern, author, most recently, of Diary of a Detour. Her editor, Ken Wissoker, says, “Lesley Stern was a singular intellectual presence, brilliant and funny. That wit and insight came through in every literary genre. It was a huge privilege to work with her on this last book, Diary of a Detour, where her spirit will live on.”
Stern taught in a number of universities around the globe (including at the University of Zimbabwe; Glasgow University; La Trobe and Murdoch Universities; The University of New South Wales; and University of California, Irvine) before moving to University of California, San Diego in 2000, where she was Professor of Visual Arts until 2013. She was the author of Dead and Alive: The Body as Cinematic Thing, The Smoking Book and The Scorsese Connection, and co-editor of Falling For You: Essays on Cinema and Performance.
Diary of a Detour is Stern’s memoir of living with the chronic lymphocytic leukemia that eventually led to her death. She chronicles the fears and daily experience of coming to grips with an incurable form of cancer by describing the dramas and delving into the science. Poet Eileen Myles called it “the most pleasurable cancer book imaginable.”
We invite you to watch the online celebration of Lesley Stern’s book as a way to remember her life and work. It features readings by Stern, Donna Haraway and Eileen Myles, and a Q&A moderated by Lisa Cartwright.
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