Prolific cultural commentator, novelist, essayist, and sometimes politician Gore Vidal died Tuesday of complications with pneumonia. He was 86 years old. In his obituary at the Washington Post, the headline referred to him as an “imperious gadfly and prolific, graceful writer.” Though he was perhaps snubbed by many literary awards organizations, his novels Myra Breckinridge, Lincoln, and Burr, among many others, brought him enormous success. Some would like to discredit his status and stature among America’s greatest writers, as he was known for being a harsh critic of politicians, the military, and other writers (he once provoked a head-butt from Norman Mailer following a dispute in which Vidal compared Mailer to Charles Manson). However, he remains greatly appreciated by many.

Dave Eggers said of him, at a 2009 National Book Awards ceremony at which both he and Vidal received recognition, “(Vidal) meant everything to me when I was learning how to write and how to read. His words, his intellect, his activism, his ability and willingness to always speak up and hold his government accountable, especially, has been so inspiring to me I can’t articulate it.”

To get a sense of his character, his refinement and, more infamously, his controversial qualities, take a look at this heated television interview with William Buckley in 1968: Gore Vidal has died.

Reporters for the Associated Press, Hillel Italie and Andrew Dalton, wrote, “In a world more to his liking, Gore Vidal might have been president, or even king. He had an aristocrat’s bearing—tall, handsome and composed—and an authoritative baritone ideal for summoning an aide or courtier.”

He had many celebrity friends including Paul Newman, John and Jackie Kennedy, Tennessee Williams, Hillary Clinton, Frank Sinatra, Orson Welles, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, the list goes on and on. Italie noted that, along with the likes of Norman Mailer and Truman Capote, Gore Vidal belonged to the last generation of literary writers to achieve genuine celebrity status—a writer who frequented television talk shows and gossip columns.

Sources: Associated Press at Yahoo News, Washington Post.