Author E. L. Doctorow dead at 84

Author E.L. Doctorow, who wrote "Ragtime" and "Billy Bathgate," has died. He was 84.

The cause of death was complications from lung cancer, the author's son, Richard, told the New York Times.

Among a long list of honors that he won during his life are the National Book Award, two PEN Faulkner awards and the National Humanities Medal, according to his website.

President Obama tweeted, "E.L. Doctorow was one of America's greatest novelists. His books taught me much, and he will be missed."

Social media in fact was lighting up late Tuesday with condolences and memories of the author.

New York Times editorial writer Brent Staples tweeted that Doctorow was, "(a)lways down with & supportive of younger writers."

Edgar Lawrence Doctorow was born in 1931 in the Bronx, the grandson of Jewish immigrants from Russia, and was named for his father's favorite author, Edgar Allen Poe, according to JSpaceNews.com. His writing talent became apparent when, for a class at the Bronx High School of Science, he wrote a detailed description of a doorman at Carnegie Hall and his supposed friendship with him, according to the publication. Doctorow later admitted to the teacher that the doorman was a work of fiction, but it impressed and convinced the teacher of Doctorow's talents.

He graduated with honors from Kenyon College, in Ohio, then later attended graduate school at Columbia University. It was there he met his wife, Helen Seltzer.

Doctorow lived in Manhattan and in Sag Harbor, Long Island, according to the New York Times.

He wrote a dozen novels as well as three volumes of short fiction and a stage drama, the Times reports.

Doctorow was scheduled to appear at the revered Chatauqua Institution in western New York on Aug. 7 and at the Library of Congress National Book Festival, in Washington, on Aug. 30.