JEAN STEIN , AN AUTHOR COMMITS SUICIDE AT THE AGE OF 83

Author, Jean Stein who wrote best-selling oral histories has died in New York City at the age of 83. Authorities say Stein killed herself by jumping from the penthouse floor of a building in upper Manhattan on Sunday and was pronounced dead at the scene. Until her death, Stein was a former editor at the Paris Review.

A spokesperson at Random House, which published her most recent book, the well-received West of Eden: An American Place, issued the shortest of statements in response: ‘Random House is deeply saddened by the death of Jean Stein.’