Novelist Bebe Moore Campbell, 56, has died

Tue, 11/28/2006 - 9:46am by sernabad

Bebe Moore Campbell, author of popular best-selling novels about romance and interracial friendships, died November 27, 2006, from brain cancer.

Often compare to Terry McMillan, Campbell’s fiction titles focused on upper middle class African Americans figuring out the balance between having it all, having satisfying romantic relationships, and enjoying friendships that crossed the color line.

Several of Ms. Campbell’s novels used history to frame her stories. Her first fiction title, Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine (1992), is based on the life of Emmett Till. Brothers and Sisters (1994) is the story of two bankers, one white and one African American, in post-L.A. 1992 riots. In What You Owe Me (2001), the friends are a Holocaust survivor and an African American. Her last novel, 72 Hour Hold (2005), was based on a family member's struggle with bipolar disorder.

Ms. Campbell was 56 when she died.