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Fast-selling Novelist V.C. Andrews
by The Associated Press Virginia Beach, VA Source: Chicago Tribune [National, C Edition], 22 December 1986, p9 Novelist V.C. Andrews, whose Gothic tales brought her international fame, has died of cancer in her Virginia home. Miss Andrews, a Portsmouth native who lived in an oceanfront residence with her mother, died Friday. She had refused to divulge her age, even to her publisher, but was believed to be in her late 40s or early 50s. Miss Andrews - the V.C. was for Virginia Cleo - burst upon the publishing scene in 1979 with Flowers in the Attic, a tale of four children imprisoned in their home by a scheming mother and tortured by a sadistic grandmother. The New York Times dubbed her the fastest-selling author in America after her initial success. Flowers in the Attic is to be released as a movie in March, according to Pocket Books, which published all of her works. Miss Andrews' most recent novel, Dark Angels [sic], was issued in November and rose to the top of the paperback best-seller list in three days. Her editor, Ann Patty, said Miss Andrews had "an extraordinary ability to delve into family relationships and express some of the deepest hopes and fears of adolescence. . . . Her generosity of spirit and her dedication to her craft were an inspiration to everyone who worked with her, and her millions of fans." Miss Andrews used a wheelchair because of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis contracted when she was a 20-year-old art student. For years, she earned her living as a commercial artist and fashion illustrator. She later turned to writing stories for confession magazines. "Painting was messy," she said in a recent interview, "and I was allergic to turpentine. One day I said, 'Why put up with all these smells when writing is so neat?' So I picked up a copy of 'The Writer's Handbook' and started out." She spent years receiving rejection slips for her books until her 10th, Flowers in the Attic, attracted the attention of a literary agent and was published in 1979. The book captivated millions of readers. Miss Andrews never married. She said her solitude helped her create the strange tales that proved so popular. "It takes a certain amount of loneliness to get kinky," she said. "You cannot be kinky when there are a lot of people around. They normalize you. But a writer can build on these odd notions." She is survived by her mother and two brothers. A graveside service is planned Monday at Olive Branch Cemetery in Portsmouth. PHOTO: Novelist V.C. Andrews in 1981.
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