Amanda Davis, a promising writer who was on a tour promoting her first novel, died March 14 in a North Carolina plane crash.
Her father, James Davis, was the pilot of the small plane in which he and his wife, Francie, were ferrying their 32-year-old daughter to a bookstore where the author was scheduled to do a reading of "Wonder When You'll Miss Me" (William Morrow). All three perished.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday March 27, 2003 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 0 inches; 27 words Type of Material: Correction
Davis obituary -- An obituary of novelist Amanda Davis in Monday's California section misspelled the last name of Susan Orlean, author of "The Orchid Thief," as Orleans.
In response to Amanda Davis' death, there was been an outpouring of remembrances from the writing community of which she had become a beloved part.
Davis was deeply involved with writers and writing. She taught undergraduate and graduate fiction at Mills College in Oakland and had previously received fellowships from a number of prestigious writing programs, including the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Wesleyan Writers Conference, the Blue Mountain Center, the Djerassic Resident Artist Program, the Tyrone Guthrie Center, the MacDowell Colony and the Corporation of Yaddo.
Her work, which included "Circling the Drain," a collection of short stories published by Morrow in 1999, had appeared in Esquire, Seventeen and other magazines.
Davis was described by her fellow writers and friends as "the magnetic core around which a lot of people swirled," as her friend, novelist Heidi Julavits, put it.
Many writers posted tributes to Davis in an online literary journal, Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern (www.mcsweeneys.net), in which Davis' work had previously appeared.
Among those recalling her with affection, humor and grief were, besides Julavits ("The Mineral Palace"), writers Michael Chabon ("The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay"), Dave Eggers ("A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius") and Susan Orleans ("The Orchid Thief").
"Her work floated somewhere between poetry and prose, untethered by narrative but always concerned with matters of the heart," Julavits said.
Chabon, who also is author of "Wonder Boys," said of Davis: "As with many people who are both small of stature and truly funny, there was something fierce" about her.
Chabon continued: "You sensed that if she had been a fraction more powerful -- had possessed the ability to fly or shoot flames from her hands -- she would have kicked ... evil-doers all over the world."
