Mary Oliver’s literary executor Bill Reichblum told The Washington Post she died today at her home in Hobe Sound, Florida. He said the cause of death was lymphoma. According to The New York Times, Mary was first diagnosed with lymphoma in 2015. She was previously diagnosed with lung cancer in 2012. The Fourth Sign of the Zodiac reflected on her experience fighting the cancer, saying: “Do you need a prod? / Do you need a little darkness to get you going? / Let me be as urgent as a knife, then.”
Mary won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for her collection of poems American Primitive. Her works included White Pine, West Wind and the 2017 anthology Devotions.
Among the other accolades she received during the course of her illustrious career, she was also awarded the National Book Award for New and Selected Poems in 1992, as well as the Lannan Literary Award for lifetime achievement in 1998.
The poet was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1935.
In a rare interview in 2011, she told Oprah’s O Magazine: “I had a very dysfunctional family, and a very hard childhood.
“So I made a world out of words. And it was my salvation.”
In the 1950s, Mary met photographer Molly Malone Cook, who became her life partner and literary agent for over 40 years until she died in 2005.
She dedicated much of her work to Molly over the years.
Tributes have poured in for the award-winning writer, with Hillary Clinton tweeting: “Thank you, Mary Oliver, for giving so many of us words to live by. ‘Tell me, what is it you plan to do/with your one wild and precious life?’”
Hillary’s daughter Chelsea Clinton said: “Thank you Mary Oliver. You brough light and joy though your poetry to my grandmother and she shared the gift of your work with me.
“We read ‘What is the Greatest Gift’ at her memorial. Holding your loved ones in my heart and prayers.”
US poet Sarah Kay also wrote: “Very sad to hear of Mary Oliver’s passing. I have always loved her poetry and feel so grateful to her for being a poet who was willing to write into earnest wonder and hope.
“She lit a path for me.”
Irish author Sarah Crossnan tweeted: “When someone says that a piece of art changed their life it’s easy to see it as hyperbole. But Mary Oliver really changed mine, not least when I discovered ‘The Journey’.
“Just shed a tear at hearing of her death. RIP, Mary, and thank you.”
“RIP Mary Oliver — thank you for bringing poems so full of wisdom into the world and for the wonderful instruction on living a life,” wrote musician Julien Baker.
He also shared a quote from Mary which read: ‘Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”