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69-421: Patricia Highsmith (born Mary Patricia Plangman ; January 19, 1921 – February 4, 1995) was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her psychological thrillers , including her series of five novels featuring the character Tom Ripley . She wrote 22 novels and numerous short stories in a career spanning nearly five decades, and her work has led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Her writing

138-617: A hardboiled detective and serial killer , involved in a cat and mouse game. Sensation novels , examples of early psychological thrillers, were considered to be socially irresponsible due to their themes of sex and violence. These novels, among others, were inspired by the exploits of real-life detective Jack Whicher . Water, especially floods, is frequently used to represent the unconscious mind, such as in What Lies Beneath and In Dreams . Psychological thrillers may not always be concerned with plausibility. Peter Hutchings defines

207-536: A 1970 letter to her stepfather, Highsmith described sex with men as like "steel wool in the face, a sensation of being raped in the wrong place—leading to a sensation of having to have, pretty soon, a boewl [ sic ] movement." Phyllis Nagy described Highsmith as "a lesbian who did not very much enjoy being around other women" and her few affairs with men occurred just to "see if she could be into men in that way because she so much more preferred their company." Highsmith called herself "basically polygamous" and

276-671: A Summer Idyll , was rejected by Knopf (her most recent American publisher) several months before her death. It was published posthumously in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury Publishing in March 1995, and nine years later in the United States by W. W. Norton . The novel sold 50,000 copies in France within six weeks of her death. Highsmith's literary estate included eight thousand pages of handwritten notebooks and diaries. Highsmith had anorexia as

345-412: A friend that after her death a future biographer must discuss her love life and "everyone must know I am queer or gay." Psychological thrillers In terms of context and convention, it is a subgenre of the broader ranging thriller narrative structure, with similarities to Gothic and detective fiction in the sense of sometimes having a "dissolving sense of reality". It is often told through

414-511: A graduation rate of 35%. Within a decade the new smaller schools claimed a low staff turnover and an average high school graduation rate in excess of 85%, more than 5% greater than the city-wide graduation rate. The school has been visited by educators and school designers from around the world to see what the then education director of the Gates Foundation has called the JREC "the best example in

483-841: A house in Aurigeno , Switzerland and in 1982 moved there permanently. In 1981, Highsmith moved into her Swiss home and began writing a new novel, People who Knock on the Door (1983), about the influence of Christian fundamentalism in America. This, and her following novel, Found in the Street (1986) , were partly based on a research trip to America in early 1981. Her biographer Joan Schenkar states that by this time Highsmith had been living in Europe so long she "began to make errors of American fact and understanding in her novels." Highsmith described People who Knock on

552-615: A job at publications such as Harper's Bazaar , Vogue , Mademoiselle , Good Housekeeping , Time , Fortune , and The New Yorker . She eventually found work with FFF Publishers which provided copy for various Jewish publications. The job, which paid $ 20 per week, lasted only six months but gave her experience in researching stories. In December 1942 Highsmith found employment with comic book publisher Sangor – Pines where she earned up to $ 50 per week. She wrote "Sergeant Bill King" stories, contributed to Black Terror and Fighting Yank comics, and wrote profiles such as Catherine

621-556: A loner who guarded her privacy but she formed a life-long friendship with fellow student Kate Kingsley Skattebol. She continued to read voraciously, kept diaries and notebooks, and developed an interest in eastern philosophy , Marx and Freud . She also read Thomas Wolfe , Marcel Proust and Julien Green with admiration. She published nine stories in the college literary magazine and became its editor in her senior year. After graduating in 1942, Highsmith, despite endorsements from "highly placed professionals," applied without success for

690-795: A long-term association with the publication.She also completed two further novels, Deep Water (published in 1957) and A Game for the Living (1958), and a children's book, Miranda the Panda is on the Veranda (1958), that she co-authored with Doris Sanders. In December 1958, Highsmith moved back to Manhattan where she wrote This Sweet Sickness . The novel was published in February 1960 to generally favorable reviews. From September 1960, she lived near New Hope , Pennsylvania. There she saw René Clement's Plein Soleil (1960),

759-610: A loose adaptation of Ripley's Game. She praised the film but was displeased with Dennis Hopper as Ripley. The following year, she was elected chairman of the jury for the Berlin Film Festival . In 1980 Highsmith underwent bypass surgery to correct uncontrolled bleeding and serious cardiovascular problems. Soon after, the French authorities fined her for taxation irregularities, prompting her to comment, "How appropriate, to be bleeding in two places." Disillusioned with France, she bought

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828-751: A member of the New York State Performance Standards Consortium, in order to graduate Vanguard students demonstrate mastery in Literature, History, Math and Science by presenting original analysis, research, and mathematical models to faculty committees and must take one NY State Regents exam in English. Talent Unlimited is a small school for the performing arts. The school serves approximately 484 students (as of 2012) in grades 9–12. It offers highly specialized courses in vocal and instrumental music, musical theatre, drama, and dance. P226M

897-535: A novel about a lesbian relationship. Strangers on a Train was published in March 1950 and received favorable reviews in The New Yorker , New York Herald Tribune and New York Times. The novel was shortlisted for the Edgar Allan Poe Prize and Alfred Hitchcock secured the film rights for $ 6,000. Sales increased after the release of the film. In February 1951, she left for Europe for the publication of

966-482: A personality disorder. A psychiatrist who observed her at a hotel in 1963 said to the owner, "You do realize you have a psychopath in the hall." Many who knew her said she could also be funny and good company, but difficult. Her oldest friend, Kate Skattebol, said that at college she was "fun to be with and her sense of humour was great. She loved to shock people." British journalist Francis Wyndham, who met her in 1963, said, "I liked her immediately...I could tell that she

1035-719: A psychological thriller is it emphasizes the mental states of its characters: their perceptions, thoughts, distortions, and general struggle to grasp reality. According to director John Madden , psychological thrillers focus on story, character development, choice, and moral conflict; fear and anxiety drive the psychological tension in unpredictable ways. However, the majority of psychological thrillers have happy endings. Madden stated their lack of spectacle and strong emphasis on character led to their decline in Hollywood popularity. Psychological thrillers are suspenseful by exploiting uncertainty over characters' motives, honesty, and how they see

1104-620: A psychopath. The novel went on to win the Edgar Allan Poe Scroll of the Mystery Writers of America.Highsmith biographer Richard Bradford states that the novel "forged the basis for her long term reputation as a writer." Highsmith moved to the affluent hamlet of Palisades , New York State, in 1956 and lived there for over two years. In March 1957, her story "A Perfect Alibi" was published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine , beginning

1173-407: A story about a pyromaniac nanny that she had written in 1941, was published by Harper's Bazaar . The publishers Knopf wrote her that they were interested in publishing any novels she might have. Nothing, however, came from their subsequent meeting. Highsmith's agents advised her that her stories needed to be more "upbeat" to be marketable but she wanted to write stories that reflected her vision of

1242-731: A teenager and episodes of depression throughout her life. Despite literary success, she wrote in her diary of January 1970: "[I] am now cynical, fairly rich ... lonely, depressed, and totally pessimistic." She was an alcoholic who by her middle age drank from breakfast until she went to bed at night. She smoked 40 Gauloises cigarettes a day and rarely ate fruit and vegetables. In 1973 her doctor advised her that if she did not change her lifestyle she might not live past 55. Highsmith underwent surgery in May 1980 for blockages in two arteries of her right leg, and in April 1986 she had successful surgery for lung cancer (of

1311-466: A type not related to smoking). In January 1992 she had a procedure to widen her left femoral artery, and in September the following year she had surgery to remove a non-cancerous tumor in her lower intestine. Later in 1993 she was diagnosed with the aplastic anemia and lung cancer that would kill her. To all the devils, lusts, passions, greeds, envies, loves, hates, strange desires, enemies ghostly and real,

1380-526: A writer for comic books while writing her own short stories and novels in her spare time. Her literary breakthrough came with the publication of her first novel Strangers on a Train (1950) which was adapted into a 1951 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock . Her 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley was well received in the United States and Europe, cementing her reputation as a major exponent of psychological thrillers. In 1963, Highsmith moved to England where her critical reputation continued to grow. Following

1449-504: A year. She called this the "saddest year" of her life and felt "abandoned" by her mother. In 1934 she returned to New York to live with her mother and stepfather in Greenwich Village , Manhattan. She was unhappy at home. She hated her step father and developed a life-long love–hate relationship with her mother, which she later fictionalized in stories such as " The Terrapin ", about a young boy who stabs his mother to death. She attended

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1518-521: Is "a distraction from more creative pursuits". Vanguard is a college preparatory school grades 9-12 for students from all boroughs of New York City. The school serves approximately 450 students and is divided into Upper (11-12)and Lower Schools (9-10). Curricula are planned using the Habits of Mind . The school's curriculum encourages empathy and respect for others through investigation of different viewpoints and making connections with their own lives. As

1587-484: Is a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools and requires students to successfully complete six core proficiencies to graduate (Creative Arts, Criticism, Literature, Math, Science, and Social Studies). The school uses non-traditional approaches to education: teachers and students call one another by their first names, food and drink are brought into class, and teachers have opposed government-mandated testing claiming it

1656-468: Is an educational multiplex located in the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan , New York City . Named after the district superintendent of schools, Julia Richman , it houses six autonomous small schools for approximately 1,800 Pre-K through 12th grade students in the former building of Julia Richman High School , a comprehensive high school that operated until 1995. The schools are operated by

1725-515: Is school for children with autism . The school is a cluster school with in seven facilities, including the JREC, and (as of 2012) serves a total of approximately 300 middle school and high school inclusion students in grades 9–12. Ella Baker School is a pre-K through 8th grade school serving approximately 317 students (as of 2012). It is named after the African-American civil rights and human rights activist Ella Josephine Baker . This school

1794-461: Is what we do in bed." In 1970 she wrote to a friend: "We all become reconciled to being queer and prefer life that way." Highsmith refused to speak publicly about her sexuality, repeatedly telling interviewers: “I don’t answer personal questions about myself or other people.” When she finally agreed, in 1990, to have The Price of Salt republished under her own name as Carol she was still reluctant to discuss her sexuality. In 1978, however, she wrote

1863-550: The New York City Department of Education . Julia Richman High School was founded in 1913 as an all-girls commercial high school at 60 West 13th Street in Greenwich Village . It was named after Julia Richman , the first woman district superintendent of schools in New York City. The school expanded, eventually operating in seven buildings across New York City. Construction started on the present building in 1922 and

1932-474: The giallo , an Italian subgenre of psychological thrillers, as violent murder mysteries that focus on style and spectacle over rationality. According to Peter B. Flint of The New York Times , detractors of Alfred Hitchcock accused him of "relying on slick tricks, illogical story lines and wild coincidences". The most popular Psychological Thriller Author is Jodi Picoult Julia Richman Education Complex The Julia Richman Education Complex ( JREC )

2001-553: The 1960s, as often eccentric, rude, difficult and antisocial. She brought her pet snails to one dinner party in the 1960s and let them wander over the mahogany.At a dinner party in 1968 she deliberately lowered her head to a candle and set her hair on fire. She had two friends as house guests in 1971 and threw a dead rat into their room. She often made racist or insensitive comments which offended and embarrassed those present. Those who knew her suggested that this behavior might have resulted from depression, alcoholism, Asperger's Syndrome or

2070-455: The Door as "a flat book, but popular in France, Germany and E[ast] Germany." In 1986, Highsmith had a successful operation for lung cancer. Shortly after, she commissioned a new home in Tegna , Switzerland. The home was in the brutalist style and her friends called it "the bunker." There she completed her last two novels, Ripley Under Water (1991) and Small g: A Summer Idyll (1995). In 1990 she

2139-467: The French film adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley, but she was disappointed by its moralistic ending. She also wrote The Cry of the Owl which she completed in February 1962. Although Highsmith considered it one of her worst novels, novelist Brigid Brophy later rated it, along with Lolita , as one of the best since World War II. Highsmith spent 1962 shuttling between New Hope and Europe and finishing

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2208-753: The Great , Barney Ross , and Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker for the "Real Life Comics" series. After a year, she realized she could make more money and have more flexibility for travel and serious writing by working freelance for comics and she did so until 1949. From 1943 to 1946, under editor Vincent Fago at Timely Comics , she contributed to its U.S.A. Comics wartime series, writing scenarios for characters such as "Jap Buster Johnson" and The Destroyer . For Fawcett Publications she scripted characters including "Crisco and Jasper." She also wrote for True Comics , Captain Midnight and Western Comics . Working for comics

2277-551: The United States of a multiplex of a group of very effective schools that share a common facility. And it’s a group of schools that are showing really outstanding results.” In 2006, the nearby Hunter College of the City University of New York proposed to take over the complex and relocate the schools to a new facility on the college's Brookdale campus approximately 40 blocks south in the Kips Bay neighborhood. Public opposition

2346-628: The Upper East Side, voted for a resolution opposing the plan. The six schools are autonomous, each with its own budget, teachers, schedules, curriculum, and separate spaces within the facility. Each maintains its own identity. Urban Academy is an inquiry-based, college oriented high school with a rigorous academic focus. The school serves approximately 169 students (as of 2012) in grades 9–12. Many students also take college courses at Hunter College or at Eugene Lang College at New School University where they receive course credit. Urban Academy

2415-555: The age of nine, she became fascinated by the case histories of abnormal psychology in The Human Mind by Karl Menninger , a popularizer of Freudian analysis. In the summer of 1933, Highsmith attended a girls' camp and the letters she wrote home were published as a story two years later in Woman's World magazine. She received $ 25 for the story. After returning from camp, she was sent to Fort Worth and lived with her maternal grandmother for

2484-437: The all-girl Julian Richman High School where she achieved a B minus average grade. She continued to read widely— Edgar Allan Poe was a favorite—and began writing short stories and a journal. Her story "Primroses are Pink" was published in the school literary magazine. In 1938 Highsmith entered Barnard College where her studies included English literature, playwriting and short story composition. Fellow students considered her

2553-619: The army of memories, with which I do battle—may they never give me peace. – Patricia Highsmith, "My New Year's Toast", journal entry, 1947 Highsmith was ambitious and socially active in the 1940s but always preferred smaller gatherings to large crowds and public functions. Despite her reputation as a recluse in her later years, she had a circle of friends, neighbors and admirers who she regularly saw in France and Switzerland, and she frequently corresponded with friends in Europe and America. Highsmith's biographers, friends and acquaintances describe her public and private behavior, especially from

2622-607: The breakdown of her relationship with a married Englishwoman, she moved to France in 1967 to try to rebuild her life. Her sales were now higher in Europe than in the United States which her agent attributed to her subversion of the conventions of American crime fiction. She moved to Switzerland in 1982 where she continued to publish new work that increasingly divided critics. The last years of her life were marked by ill health and she died of aplastic anemia and lung cancer in Switzerland in 1995. The Times said of Highsmith: "she puts

2691-619: The country in her bra. Schenkar, however, believes this is only an amusing story and that she smuggled her snails in cottage cheese cartons. Her other hobbies included woodworking, painting and gardening. Diogenes Verlag published a book of her drawings in 1995.She was an accomplished gardener, but in her later years her friends and neighbors did most of the work on her gardens. Highsmith's sexual relationships were predominantly with women. She occasionally engaged in sex with men without physical desire for them, writing in her diary in 1948: "The male face doesn't attract me, isn't beautiful to me." In

2760-603: The crime story literature. Julian Simmons in The Sunday Times commended Highsmith's subtle characterization. The novel won the Silver Dagger Award of the British Crime Writers' Association for best foreign novel of 1964. Highsmith was quarreling with her mother and under severe emotional strain due to her difficult relationship with her English lover. She was drinking heavily and her private and public behavior

2829-424: The exterior of the building, provided separate spaces for each of the small schools, yet maintained many of the traditional features of the building. It opened its doors to four new schools in 1995. In 1996 the last class of the former JRHS, which had stayed in the building throughout the restructuring, graduated. Prior to its closing, Julia Richman High School had developed a reputation for academic failure with

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2898-598: The festival town of Aldeburgh , Suffolk, and the following year she bought a home in the nearby village of Earl Soham where she lived for three years. During this time, Highsmith's critical reputation in the United Kingdom grew. Francis Wyndham wrote a long article on Highsmith for the New Statesman in 1963 which introduced her work to many readers. Brigid Brophy, also writing in the New Statesman , praised The Two Faces of January (1964) stating that Highsmith had made

2967-441: The latter generally involving more horror and terror elements and themes and more disturbing or frightening scenarios. Peter Hutchings states varied films have been labeled psychological thrillers, but it usually refers to "narratives with domesticated settings in which action is suppressed and where thrills are provided instead via investigations of the psychologies of the principal characters." A distinguishing characteristic of

3036-495: The narratives. Some of these consistent themes include: In psychological thrillers, characters often have to battle an inner struggle. Amnesia is a common plot device used to explore these questions. Character may be threatened with death, be forced to deal with the deaths of others, or fake their own deaths. Psychological thrillers can be complex, and reviewers may recommend a second or third viewing to "decipher its secrets." Common elements may include stock characters , such as

3105-443: The negative connotations of horror often categorize their work as a psychological thriller. The same situation can occur when critics label a work to be a psychological thriller in order to elevate its perceived literary value. Many psychological thrillers have emerged over the past years, all in various media (film, literature, radio, etc.). Despite these very different forms of representation, general trends have appeared throughout

3174-729: The new building was dedicated two years later. In the 1930s, the school had rigorous classes and a dress code . JRHS changed to co-educational in 1967. By 1990 the NYC Board of Education identified JRHS as having the worst statistics of student achievement in Manhattan. The local police precinct referred to the crime-infested school as “Julia Rikers,” known for its violence and vandalism. Metal detectors were installed and metal cages were used to isolate students with disciplinary problems. Only thirty-seven percent of its enrollees graduated. The school closed to entering freshmen in 1993 who were given

3243-503: The novel The Two Faces of January . She had fallen in love with a married English woman and wanted to live closer to her. In February 1963, she moved permanently to Europe. Highsmith rented an apartment in Positano where she worked on her prison novel The Glass Cell. She then traveled to London where she promoted The Cry of the Owl , newly published in Britain. In November 1963 she moved to

3312-510: The novel in England and France. She stayed for two years, traveling and working on an unfinished novel, "The Traffic of Jacob's Ladder," which is now lost. She wrote Skattebol, "I can imagine living mostly in Europe the rest of my life." Highsmith was back in New York in May 1953. The Price of Salt had been published in hardback under a pseudonym the previous May, and sold well in paperback in 1953. It

3381-552: The novel. Strangers on a Train was accepted for publication by Harper & Brothers in May 1949. The following month, Highsmith sailed to Europe where she spent three months in England, France and Italy. In Italy, she visited Positano which would later become the major setting for her novel The Talented Mr. Ripley . She read an anthology of Kierkegaard on the trip and declared him her new "master". Highsmith returned to New York in October 1949 and began writing The Price of Salt ,

3450-546: The opportunity to attend one of six new small schools located outside the school building. With money provided in part by the entities such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation , the building was redesigned from a single school into a multi-age, multi-service learning community with six autonomous, public, Small Schools . The new schools that formed the new Julia Richman Education Complex were "hothoused" in temporary buildings elsewhere. The $ 30 million renovation in 1993–95 restored

3519-559: The posthumous availability of her diaries and notebooks in which she recorded the motivations of her behavior. Highsmith began keeping snails as pets in 1946 or 1949 as she was fascinated by their sexuality. Pet snails appear in her 1957 novel Deep Water, and her story "The Snail Watcher" is about pet snails who kill their owner. She kept 300 snails at her home in Earl Soham and occasionally took some with her on social outings. She said that when she moved to France she smuggled her snails into

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3588-647: The promise of any future royalties, to the Yaddo colony, where she spent two months in 1948 writing the draft of Strangers on a Train . Highsmith bequeathed her literary estate to the Swiss Literary Archives at the Swiss National Library in Bern, Switzerland. Her Swiss publisher, Diogenes Verlag , which had principal rights to her work, was appointed literary executor of the estate. Her last novel, Small g:

3657-475: The six separate schools, the JREC includes facilities offering services to them all: The schools also share an art gallery, auditorium, cafeteria, ceramics studio, culinary arts room, dance studio, gymnasiums, library, swimming pool, and a mini-theater. The complex is governed by the Building Council composed of directors and principals from each school and program within the building. The council, chaired by

3726-477: The suspense story in a toweringly high place in the hierarchy of fiction." Her second novel, The Price of Salt , published under a pseudonym in 1952, was ground breaking for its positive depiction of lesbian relationships and optimistic ending. She remains controversial for her antisemitic, racist and misanthropic statements. Highsmith was born Mary Patricia Plangman in Fort Worth, Texas on January 19, 1921. She

3795-428: The viewpoint of psychologically stressed characters, revealing their distorted mental perceptions and focusing on the complex and often tortured relationships between obsessive and pathological characters. Psychological thrillers often incorporate elements of mystery , drama , action , and paranoia . The genre is closely related to and sometimes overlaps with the psychological drama and psychological horror genres,

3864-427: The world. In 1946, Highsmith read Albert Camus ' The Stranger and was impressed by his absurdist vision. The following year she commenced writing Strangers on a Train , and her new agent submitted an early draft to a publisher's reader who recommended major revisions. Based on the recommendation of Truman Capote , Highsmith was accepted by the Yaddo artist's retreat during the summer of 1948, where she worked on

3933-508: The world. Films can also cause discomfort in audiences by privileging them with information they wish to share with the characters; guilty characters may suffer similar distress by virtue of their knowledge. However, James N. Frey defines psychological thrillers as a style, rather than a subgenre; Frey states good thrillers focus on the psychology of their antagonists and build suspense slowly through ambiguity. Creators and/or film distributors or publishers who seek to distance themselves from

4002-610: Was because they were "too subtle". In 1970, Highsmith flew to the United States where she visited New York and her family in Fort Worth. She drew on her trip for her novel A Dog's Ransom (1972) which is set in Manhattan. In November 1970 she moved to the village of Moncourt , in the Moselle region of France. The novels she wrote there include Ripley's Game (1974), Edith's Diary (1977) and The Boy Who Followed Ripley (1980). In 1977, she saw Wim Wenders' The American Friend ,

4071-518: Was becoming more eccentric and antisocial. When her love affair ended in late 1966, she decided to move to France. After a brief visit to Tunisia, Highsmith moved to the Île-de-France in 1967 and eventually settled at Montmachoux in April 1968. Her novels of this period include The Tremor of Forgery (1969), which Graham Greene considered her finest work, and Ripley Under Ground (1970) which gained generally positive reviews. Her books, however, were selling poorly in America which her agent suggested

4140-667: Was consistently unfaithful to her lovers. She noted in her 1949 diary that she couldn’t sustain any relationship for more than two to three years. In 1943 she wrote, "there is something perverted within me, that I don’t love a girl anymore if she loves me more than I love her." According to biographer Andrew Wilson , "She would be forever prone to falling in love but always happiest when alone." Highsmith held varying views about her sexuality throughout her life. In 1942 she wrote that lesbians were inferior to homosexual men because they never sought their equals. Later she told author Marijane Meaker : "the only difference between us and heterosexuals

4209-531: Was founded 1996 by former teachers and administrators from Central Park East Elementary School. Manhattan International is a high school for recent immigrants with a focus on students whose first language is not English. It serves approximately 309 students (as of 2009) in grades 9–12. The school is a member of the New York Performance Standards Consortium, which opposes high-stakes "one size does not fit all" tests. In addition to

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4278-413: Was influenced by existentialist literature, and questioned notions of identity and popular morality . She was dubbed "the poet of apprehension " by novelist Graham Greene . Born in Fort Worth , Texas, and mostly raised in her infancy by her maternal grandmother, Highsmith moved to New York City at the age of six to live with her mother and step father. After graduating college in 1942, she worked as

4347-754: Was made an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters of France. In 1993 her health deteriorated and she required the help of a home carer. Highsmith died on February 4, 1995, at 74, from aplastic anemia and lung cancer at Carita Hospital in Locarno , Switzerland, near Tegna. She was cremated at the cemetery in Bellinzona ; a memorial service was conducted in the Chiesa di Tegna in Tegna and her ashes were interred in its columbarium . She left her estate , worth an estimated $ 3 million, and

4416-486: Was praised in the New York Times Book Review for "sincerity and good taste" but the reviewer found the characters underdeveloped. The novel made Highsmith a respected figure in the New York lesbian community, but as she did not publicly acknowledge authorship, it did not further her literary reputation. In September 1953, Highsmith traveled to Fort Worth where she completed a fair copy of The Blunderer which

4485-613: Was published the following year. In 1954 she worked on a new novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley, about a young American who kills a rich compatriot in Italy and assumes his identity. She completed the novel in six months in Lenox , Massachusetts, and Santa Fe and Mexico. The Talented Mr. Ripley was published in December 1955 to favorable reviews in the New York Times Book Review and The New Yorker , their critics praising Highsmith's convincing portrait of

4554-538: Was shy and reticent, a woman with deep feelings, someone who was affectionate but also difficult." Gary Fisketjon, her American editor the 1980s, said, "She was very rough, very difficult ... But she was also plainspoken, dryly funny, and great fun to be around." Highsmith lived alone for most of her adult life, stating in a 1991 interview, "I choose to live alone because my imagination functions better when I don't have to speak with people." Although she preferred her personal life to remain private, she took no steps to avoid

4623-719: Was the only child of commercial artists Jay Bernard Plangman (1889–1975) and Mary Plangman ( née Coates; September 13, 1895 – March 12, 1991). Her father had not wanted a child and had persuaded her mother to have an abortion. Her mother, after a failed attempt to abort her by drinking turpentine , decided to leave Plangman. The couple divorced nine days before their daughter's birth. In 1927 Highsmith moved to New York City to live with her mother and her stepfather, commercial artist Stanley Highsmith, whom her mother had married in 1924. Patricia excelled at school and read widely, including works by Jack London , Louisa May Alcott , Robert Louis Stevenson , Bram Stoker , and John Ruskin . At

4692-592: Was the only long-term job Highsmith ever held. Highsmith considered comics boring "hack work" and was determined to become a novelist. In the evenings she wrote short stories which she submitted, unsuccessfully, to publications such as The New Yorker. In 1944 she spent five months in Mexico where she worked on an unfinished novel "The Click of the Shutting". On her return to Manhattan she worked on another unfinished novel "The Dove Descending". The following year, "The Heroine,"

4761-521: Was widespread and included Governor David Paterson , city council member Jessica Lappin , and State Senator Liz Krueger . Lappin and Kreuger said that "a preference by one CUNY school for expansion convenient to its existing campus is simply not a sufficient rationale" to "uproot six outstanding public schools." Hunter College sought to build a science tower on the site of the Julia Richman campus. In 2008, Manhattan Community Board 8 , which represents

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