Throughout her many years, author Joan Didion wrote and discussed the essential themes of white feminism and its problematic nature, the pathology of grief in American culture, mental illness, and more. Her work such as, The Year of Magical Thinking and Play It as It Lays deeply affected and touched many readers. Moreover, Didion demonstrated that women could openly talk about their emotions and interpersonal life and still be taken seriously as writers. She challenged the traditional framework of what women were allowed to write about. 

She died in her home in Manhattan at the age of 87, on December 23, 2021. However, the impact she left behind will not be forgotten. Didion wrote about multifaceted women on a large platform. She added a nuanced take to the traditional way society viewed grieving women. She prospected how society views grief as an indulgence. In her novel, The Year of Magical Thinking Didion states, “Grief has no distance. Grief comes in waves, paroxysms, sudden apprehensions that weaken the knees and blind the eyes and obliterate the dailiness of life.”At the heart of Joan Didion, this was who she was: a writer who wrote unapologetically about ideas she wished to explore. Readers admired her sense of authenticity. 

Through her ability to dismantle the societal norms of female authors at the time, Didion has greatly influenced many people. Guidance counselor at Hills, Dr.Sicherer details her personal experience with Joan Didion, “I had the pleasure of meeting her while I was in college. She was a speaker at a writing class I took and if I loved her writing before, I loved it even more afterward. Reading books has always been like breathing for me and as a teenager, the concept of the author or poet being as important as the work itself became intrinsic to my world. I grew up in a time where although the women’s movement had begun, the reality of it in my world was not that at all. Women raised the children, cooked, cleaned, cared for their husbands and, if they did work, still did all of the other things as well. We were supposed to look pretty, be quiet, not see and certainly not note, that things might be mangled things in front of us. Joan Didion made it seem like it was okay to take notice of the ugly things and to talk about them out loud. It was life changing.”

Senior Eunho Jung further discusses the significance of female authors, “The world has been dominated by men far too long. Female authors are redefining the status quo for the better. Joan Didion to Jane Austin, the world is changing for the better.”