British Novelist Dame Beryl Bainbridge died at the age of 75 on Friday after battling cancer, her literary agent said.
Liverpool-born Bainbridge, nominated for the Man Booker prize on five occasions and two-time winner of the Whitbread award for fiction, died at a London hospital in the early hours.
Her publicist Susan de Soissons of Little Brown & Company said: "she was one of the huge doyennes of literature and everyone adored her."
Her bestsellers include "An Awfully Big Adventure," "Master Georgie" and the "Dressmaker."
"Every Man for Himself," set on the sinking Titanic, shot her into the media spotlight when it became swept up in the publicity surrounding the hit Hollywood film.
In 2008, she featured in a Times newspaper list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. She was made a dame in 2000.
(Reporting by Stefano Ambrogi; Editing by Steve Addison)
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LAS VEGAS – Bidders from around the world bought up Michael Jackson memorabilia worth nearly $1 million at an auction on the anniversary of his death, including $190,000 for the Swarovski-crystal-studded glove he wore on his 1984 Victory Tour.
The bidding that began Friday on more than 200 items was "unlike anything we've ever experienced," said Darren Julien of Julien's Auctions, which ran the auction at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.
Some items, like the glove, brought 10 times more than their estimated value, he said.
"It just shows you Michael Jackson is the most sought after and most collectible celebrity of all time. It was just phenomenal," Julien told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
"People flew in from Asia, Russia, all over. Now that he's gone, we now realize the true legend we lost," said Julien, who has not had a similar auction in his 15 years in the business. He predicted the sales would easily top $1 million by the time the auction wrapped up Sunday.
The glove had been expected to sell for between $20,000 and $30,000. The $190,000 sale price included the buyer's premium of $30,000, a standard industry fee that goes to the auction house, Julien said.
The winning bidder was Wanda Kelley of Los Angeles, who also bought a number of Jackson's albums at the auction, the Las Vegas Sun reported. She said she was prepared to go higher if necessary.
"Let's just say I wasn't walking out of here without that glove," she said.
A pair of Jackson's stage-worn loafers that were listed as worth $2,000 to $3,000 went for $90,000.
The custom jacket that the pop singer was wearing during his interview with Barbara Walters was listed at $6,000 to $8,000. It sold for $120,000.
A white Fedora sold for $56,250. One of the last autographs Jackson signed, and dated June 24, 2009, in his handwriting, went for $21,000.
Non-Jackson items that sold at the auction included:
- A Jimi Hendrix Fender guitar for $180,000.
- Prince's "Purple Rain" handwritten lyrics, which sold for $66,000.
- An Elvis Presley shirt worn in 1956 on "The Milton Berle Show," which fetched $61,200.
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PARIS — Kylie Minogue proved that in the name of charity, she's capable of selling the shirt off her back.
The petite Australian pop star auctioned off her black halter dress at a swanky AIDS benefit Friday night on the margins of Paris' menswear week.
The Jean Paul Gaultier number, which bristled with little plissed spikes, fetched US$24,770.
Other lots included a lambskin vest by California-born designer Rick Owens and a 1980 photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe titled "Leather Crotch."
The soiree raised $180,000 for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), a non-profit organization that supports HIV/AIDS research.
Held in Chez Maxim's restaurant and club in central Paris, the dinner auction attracted top names in the French fashion scene, including underwear designer Chantal Thomass, model Mark Vanderloo and Gaultier — the one-time enfant terrible who gave the world Madonna's pointy cone bra.
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