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[/floatr]AFP: Writer JG Ballard diesWriter JG Ballard, famous for his book "Empire of the Sun" about his childhood struggle to survive in a Japanese internment camp, died Sunday, his agent Margaret Hanbury said. He was 78. She announced with "great sadness" that the author, who was part of the New Wave in science fiction writing, had died Sunday morning, adding that he had been ill "for several years." James Graham Ballard was born on November 15, 1930 in Shanghai, where his father managed a textile company. When Japanese forces swept into the Chinese metropolis following the attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941, Ballard was interned with his family in a prison camp. His experiences formed the basis for his 1984 novel "Empire of the Sun", the story of a boy's life in the occupied city that went on to be adapted into a highly acclaimed film by US director Steven Spielberg in 1987. "I have -- I won't say happy -- not unpleasant memories of the camp," he once said of his childhood. "I remember a lot of the casual brutality and beatings-up that went on, but at the same time we children were playing 101 games all the time!"...more...
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