Creator of Wheel of Time series, Robert Jordan dies at age 58

Creator of Wheel of Time series, Robert Jordan dies at age 58

Sep 17 2007

James Oliver Rigney Jr, creator of the Wheel of Time series under the pseudonym Robert Jordan, died at the Medical University of South Carolina on Sunday having battled cardiac amyloidosis for the past year. The disease attacks the body's major organs; in Rigney's case, it caused the walls of his heart to thicken.  He was 58.

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Rigney served two tours in Vietnam before returning and earning a physics degree from The Citadel. He worked for the U.S. Navy after graduation and began writing in 1977. He wrote several Conan the Barbarian stories; and also a trilogy of historical novels set in Charleston under the pen name Reagan O'Neal, before turning his attention to fantasy. The first volume in his Wheel of Time epic, The Eye of the World, was published in 1990 under the name Robert Jordan.   Knife of Dreams, the eleventh book in the series, came out in 2005. He was working on a 12th volume at the time of his death.

According to his blog, "He fought a valiant fight against this most horrid disease. In the end, he left peacefully and in no pain."

He is survived by his wife, Harriet McDougal Rigney.

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