Author Gore Vidal dead from pneumonia complications

Celebrated and controversial author Gore Vidal died Tuesday from complications of pneumonia. He was 86.

Will Parkinson at Democratic Underground described Vidal as a "[l]egendary and pioneering gay author, actor, atheist, playwright, screenwriter, failed Senate candidate, Tony winner, and all-around badass." He adds that "Vidal was preceded in death by his partner of 53 years Howard Austen, and will be buried next to him in Washington DC's Rock Creek Cemetery."

"I'm a born-again atheist," the Celebrity Atheist website quotes him as saying. The site also references The Summer 1995 Secular Humanist Bulletin, in which Vidal said, "Once people get hung up on theology, they've lost sanity forever. More people have been killed in the name of Jesus Christ than any other name in the history of the world."

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D. Beeksma

One of the growing crowd of American "nones" herself, Deborah is a prolific writer who finds religion, spirituality and the impact of belief (and non-belief) on culture inspiring, fascinating and at times, disturbing. She hosts the God Discussion show and handles the site's technical work. Her education and background is in business, ecommerce and law.

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