CHRONICLES -- Anne Rice is a manufacturer of best-sellers. Born in New Orleans in 1941, she was called Howard Allen (her father’s name) O’Brien; her mother found that “interesting.” The child adopted the name Anne. Her mother died of alcoholism in 1955. Anne attended Catholic schools in New Orleans until the family moved to Richardson, Texas.
Her husband of four decades, the late Stan Rice, a visual artist and poet, was a high-school classmate there. They went to California; Anne ultimately got a master’s degree in Creative Writing from San Francisco State, where Stan taught that subject. In 1989, they left California for New Orleans.
Her first novel, Interview With a Vampire, appeared in 1973. Subsequent titles, including such words as vampire, witches, devil, damned and mummy, suggest exploitation of public credulity and ghoulishness. Her books have sold more than 100 million copies. Three films were drawn from her work, and a 2001 miniseries was based on The Feast of All Saints. She herself wrote the text of a vampire musical, starring Elton John. In 1998 she returned to her childhood Catholicism.