Author Frederick Buechner Dies At 96

He was 'like a wise, far-away uncle' to tens of thousands of readers

The death at 96 of prolific novelist and essayist Frederick Buechner felt personal. I met him only three times, but read nearly all of his 39 books and corresponded with him. I persuaded my friend Bruce Johnson, my mother, and sister Ann to join me and a couple of hundred other readers on a weekend retreat with him in Pennsylvania in 1988 shortly after …