George Garrett, 78, a man of letters and author of over thirty books of fiction, poetry, biography, and criticism, died of bladder cancer at his home in Charlottesville on May 26, 2008. Dr. Garrett directed the University of Virginia’s creative writing department until he retired in 2000. He was poet laureate of Virginia from 2002 to 2004. His most famous works were his Elizabethan trilogy—Death of the Fox, The Succession, and Entered From the Sun. He wrote each text in radically different forms of storytelling. Dr. Garrett is best known for the first work of the trilogy, Death of the Fox, written in 1971, which became his only bestseller. According to Adam Bernstein of the Washington Post, the novel began as a section of his doctoral thesis in Princeton University. He then spent thirteen years expanding and researching his novel, whose main character is the writer and explorer Sir Walter Raleigh. Mr. Garrett offered much of his talents in giving back to the arts community. He was president of AWP for two years (1971-73). The Ingersoll Foundation recognized Garrett as "one of the most inventive and artistic writers of his generation."