Author Nelson DeMille at Old Westbury Gardens in 2019 (Tab Houser).
Nelson DeMille, the prolific bestselling novelist whose success over a decades-long career made him one of the biggest modern-day celebrities to call Long Island home, has died. He was 81.
Born on Aug. 23, 1943, in New York City to Huron and Antonia (Panzera) DeMille, the family moved to Long Island, where he graduated from Elmont Memorial High School. DeMille attended Hofstra University before joining the U.S. Army, serving in the Vietnam War, where he saw combat and was honored for his service. After being discharged, he graduated from Hofstra and pursued a career as a writer.
“People ask me, ‘How do you become a writer?’” DeMille told Garden City Life in 2011. “Living in New York helps. Similar to if you were a painter in Paris in the ’20s. … You really have to be where the action is … it’s such a big industry in New York that you’re bound to run into people, then you’re going to run into more people. … By the time I was ready to sit down with a hardcover novel, I knew enough people.”
By the Rivers of Babylon, his first major novel, was published in 1978. He went on to write 23 novels, 17 of which were bestsellers — seven reaching No. 1 on The New York Times Bestsellers List for novels. A longtime Garden City resident, he often drew inspiration from his roots with books such as Plum Island about the animal disease lab, The Gold Coast set on the North Shore of Nassau County and The Maze based on the Gilgo Beach serial killer case.
“Nelson fought a valiant nine-month battle with esophageal cancer,” his family said in a statement. “True to form, he faced this ordeal with courage, grace, and good humor. We are grieving but also celebrating his wonderful life and his lasting legacy as a father, friend, and storyteller.”
He is survived by his three children children, Lauren, James, and, Alexander, with whom he coauthored his most recent book, Blood Lines.
Funeral arrangements were not immediately available.