Proffitt, Nicholas 1943-2006
Proffitt, Nicholas 1943-2006
(Nicholas Charles Proffitt)
OBITUARY NOTICE— See index for CA sketch: Born February 23, 1943, in Sault Ste. Marie, MI; died of kidney cancer, November 10, 2006, in Naples, FL. Journalist and author. Proffitt was an award-winning journalist and novelist best known for his 1983 work, Gardens of Stone. The son of a sergeant, the young Proffitt joined the army after high school. He struggled at the U.S. Military Academy, however, and dropped out after a semester. Assigned to duty at Arlington National Cemetery, his experiences there became the basis for his novel Gardens of Stone, which was made into a 1987 Francis Ford Coppola movie. Leaving the military in 1964 with the rank of sergeant E-5, Proffitt attended the University of Arizona and earned a B.A. in 1968. Hired by Newsweek, he became a war correspondent in such locations as Saigon, South Vietnam; Beirut, Lebanon; and Nairobi, Kenya. He retired from journalism in 1981 to write full time, producing the novels The Embassy House (1986) and Edge of Eden (1990).
OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES
PERIODICALS
Chicago Tribune, November 19, 2006, Section 4, p. 6.
Los Angeles Times, November 27, 2006, p. B7.
New York Times, November 17, 2006, p. A29; November 18, 2006, p. A2.
Times (London, England), December 1, 2006, p. 85.
Washington Post, November 23, 2006, p. B5.