W.P. Kinsella, 81, author of book that inspired 'Field of Dreams' . By
Jeremy Hainsworth Associated Press . VANCOUVER, British Columbia -
Canadian novelist W.P. Kinsella, who blended magical realism and
baseball in the book that became the smash hit film "Field of Dreams,"
died Friday. He was 81. His literary agent, Carolyn Swayze, said in a
statement that Mr. Kinsella's death in Hope, British Columbia, was
doctor-assisted. In the 1982 novel "Shoeless Joe," a farmer hears a
voice telling him to build a baseball field in his corn fields. When he
does, Shoeless Joe Jackson and other baseball players of yesteryear
come to play. In 2011 the Canadian baseball Hall of Fame awarded him
the Jack Graney Award for a significant contribution to the game of
baseball in Canada. "I wrote it 30 years ago, and the fact that people
are still discovering it makes me proud. It looks like it will stand
the test of time," Mr. Kinsella said at the time. Scott Crawford, the
Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame's director of operations, said he was
saddened to learn of the author's death. "His work has touched the
lives of thousands of baseball fans across Canada and around the
world," Mr. Crawford said in a statement. Key turns of phrases in Mr.
Kinsella's book - "If you build it, they will come" and "Go the
distance" - have taken their place in literature's lexicon and among
Hollywood's most memorable movie lines. The film starring Kevin
Costner, James Earl Jones, and Ray Liotta premiered in 1989 and was an
Oscar nominee for best picture. Much of Mr. Kinsella's work touched on
baseball. He published almost 30 books of fiction, nonfiction, and
poetry and won the Order of Canada, one of the country's highest
honors. William Patrick Kinsella was born in Edmonton, Alberta. His
father had played minor league baseball, and the young Mr. Kinsella
fell for the game, playing with friends on sandlots in Edmonton. He
began writing as a child, winning a YMCA contest at age 14. Mr.
Kinsella took writing courses at the University of Victoria in 1970,
receiving his bachelor of arts in creative writing in 1974. In 1978 he
earned a master of fine arts in English through the Iowa Writers'
Workshop at the University of Iowa. He had been an English professor at
the University of Calgary. Vancouver Writers Festival founder Alma Lee
said Mr. Kinsella was a private man with a passion for baseball. "He
was a dedicated story-teller, performer, curmudgeon, an irascible and
difficult man," Swayze said in a statement. "His fiction has made
people laugh, cry, and think for decades and will do so for decades to
come. Mr. Kinsella was married three times. He leaves two daughters,
who the literary agency says cared for him in his final years, and
several grandchildren. His agency did not provide details about Mr.
Kinsella's health. Assisted deaths became legal in Canada in June. Mr.
Kinsella asked that there be no memorial service.
