Robert Jordan Dead at Age 58
(2007-09-17)
AUTHOR ROBERT JORDAN DEAD AT 58
Best-selling fantasy author Robert Jordan passed away on September 16th at the Medical University of South Carolina, at the age of 58.
Jordan was born James Oliver Rigney Jr. in 1948, in Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. He graduated from The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, with a degree in physics. He served two tours with the U.S. army in Vietnam and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star with “V,” and two Vietnamese Crosses of Gallantry. A history buff, he wrote several historical novels set in Charleston in the early 1980’s under the pen-name Reagon O’Neal, and also wrote dance and theater criticism. He is the author of seven novels featuring the well-known character Conan the Barbarian.
In 1990, the first volume of his Wheel of Time fantasy series, The Eye of the World, was released, under the pen-name of Robert Jordan. The series was wildly successful and sold millions of copies internationally. The 11th book in the series, Knife of Dreams, appeared in 2005.
In March 2006, Jordan announced that he had been diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis, a rare blood disorder that attacks the organs and caused the walls of Jordan’s heart to thicken. After battling the disease for nearly two years, Jordan died from complications from primary amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy.
In his author biography, Jordan used to state that he had “been writing since 1977 and intends to continue until they nail shut his coffin.” True to his word, Jordan had been organizing his notes and writing and recording narrative for the 12th and final volume of the Wheel of Time series, The Memory of Light, during his illness. The book was originally scheduled to be published in 2009 and may be completed by his estate. 
| 
