Philip Roth Was ‘Newark To The Core’; Novelist Dies At 85

NEWARK, NJ — Philip Roth never lost touch with his Newark roots. And that’s part of the reason why his hometown won’t forget the late, great novelist.

Roth, who routinely used the Brick City as the setting for much of his award-winning fiction, died Tuesday. He was 85-years-old.

His biographer, Blake Bailey, made the announcement on Twitter.

"Philip Roth died tonight, surrounded by lifelong friends who loved him dearly," he wrote. "A darling man and our greatest living writer."

In a career that spanned more than 50 years and included books such as "Goodbye, Columbus," "Portnoy's Complaint," and "The Plot Against America," Roth, who had homes in Manhattan and Connecticut, won almost every literary prize imaginable – except the Nobel Prize for Literature.

• Read Patch’s full obituary here: Philip Roth, Iconic American Novelist, Dies At 85

According to the New Jersey Hall of Fame (NJHOF), which inducted Roth as a member in 2010, the author grew up in the Weequahic section of Newark, the second child of first-generation Jewish parents.

“Little did his high school classmates realize that the student whose yearbook caption read ‘a boy of real intelligence combined with wit and common sense’ would go on to become one of the greatest writers of his generation,” the NJHOF wrote.

The organization said that Roth received just about every honor that can be bestowed on a writer, including the National Medal of Honor, two National Book Awards, two National Book Critics Circle Awards, three PEN/Faulkner Awards, the PEN/Nabokov Award, the PEN/Bellow Award, the Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal in Fiction and a Pulitzer Prize.

After news of his passing broke, the Newark Public Library called Roth a “native Newarker and benefactor” of the library. (Watch a discussion at the Newark Museum on Philip Roth's 80th birthday)

U.S. Senator Cory Booker, the former mayor of Newark, called Roth "fearless."

“Philip Roth will be remembered as one of America’s greatest literary minds, infusing his work with characters and themes drawn from his experiences growing up and living in Newark," Booker said. "Roth was fearless, never hesitating to push the envelope of literature or wrestle with some of the most complex and challenging social questions of our time. He will be missed, and rightfully remembered as a New Jersey treasure. My prayers are with his loved ones as they mourn his loss and celebrate his incredible life.”

U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr., who represents Newark, said that Roth was “Newark to the core.”

“The City of Newark, the state of New Jersey, the United States and the world lost one of the greats,” Payne wrote. “He will be missed.”

Don’t forget to visit the Patch Newark Facebook page here.

With reporting by Colin Miner, Patch Staff

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