SEATTLE (AP) — Prolific writer J. California Cooper, who was writing plays until Alice Walker suggested she switch to short stories and novels, because they were an easier path to a paycheck, has died at age 82.
Her daughter Paris Williams said Cooper died early Saturday after experiencing several heart attacks over the past few years.
She lived most of her life in northern California and wrote more than a dozen plays and had about a dozen books published after switching to prose fiction.
Williams called Cooper a hard worker who worked a variety of jobs from a teamster on the Alaska pipeline to an escrow officer to pay the bills.
She was known for a folksy, conversational style and for stories of women scarred by violence or betrayal.
