Article content

Writer W.P. Kinsella did things his way. In failing health, he chose to end his life early Friday afternoon.

“W.P. (Bill) Kinsella invoked the assisted dying provisions of Bill C-14, at Hope, B.C., and passed away at 12:05 p.m. … Friday, Sept. 16, 2016,” said a statement from his agent, Carolyn Swayze.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Shoeless Joe author W.P. Kinsella has died Back to video

The statement provided no detail of how he died, but a post on his Facebook page said he died “surrounded by loved ones.”

Kinsella suffered a head injury when he was hit by a car in 1997, and didn’t release a new novel until 2011. His biographer Willie Steele said Kinsella had also been diagnosed with diabetes in the 1980s, and his health had deteriorated to the point where he’d spent the past couple of weeks in the Hope hospital.

“The last time I saw him was last May at his 80th birthday,” said Steele.

“He was complaining about feeling fatigued, not feeling right. We stayed in touch … he had been complaining about the diabetes and the blood sugar, everything, and that he was going to have to start dialysis. He was going to have a procedure done related to that, and had some complications.”