Award-Winning Playwright August Wilson Suffering from Cancer
"It's not like poker, you can't throw your hand in," Wilson told the paper. "I've lived a blessed life. I'm ready."
Doctors at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle discovered the cancer in June. They recommended drug treatment followed by a liver transplant. But the cancer was too advanced to be treated and Wilson told the Post-Gazette he had a life expectancy of three to five months.
Born April 27, 1945 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Wilson is one of the most acclaimed authors alive today. His plays include Jitney, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars, King Hedley II, Gem of the Ocean and Radio Golf. His work has garnered many awards, including Pulitzer Prizes for Fences 1987 and The Piano Lesson 1990, a Tony Award for Fences, an Olivier Award for Jitney and seven New York Drama Critics Circle Awards. Wilson has also received many fellowships and awards, including Rockefeller and Guggenheim Fellowships in Playwriting, the Whiting Writers Award, the 1999 National Humanities Medal presented by the President of the United States and numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities. He is an alumnus of New Dramatists, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Radio Golf, his latest play, premiered at Yale Repertory Theatre in April and is in the midst of a production at Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum.
Next season, off-Broadway's Signature Theatre is dedicated to the works of Wilson. Originally announced to run during the season were Two Trains Running September 2006 to October 2006, Wilson's one-man show How I Learned What I Learned November 2006 to January 2007, a 10 play in 10 days Wilson marathon February 2007 and an as-yet-untitled world premiere Wilson comedy about coffin makers on strike. It seems probable that changes will have to be made to this schedule, but a Wilson season will still take place. "Signature Theatre Company is deeply saddened to hear about August Wilson's illness and our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family," Signature Theatre Company Founding Artistic Director James Houghton said in a statement. "We remain fully committed to working with August on crafting a season plan that will celebrate his extraordinary contribution to the American theater."