January 31, 2020
In Memoriam: Novelist Mary Higgins Clark ’96Hon.; former PC trustee supported dance studio in her name
Mary Higgins Clark ’96Hon., renowned novelist and former Providence College trustee, died on Jan. 31, 2020.
A native of the Bronx, N.Y., Ms. Higgins Clark was a devout Catholic who gave generously to the College in multiple ways. She served on the Board of Trustees from 2002-2006. She funded the construction of the dance studio that bears her name in the Smith Center for the Arts. Ms. Higgins Clark was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters degree by PC in 1996.
Ms. Higgins Clark published her first book, Where Are the Children?, when she was 48. She quickly built a prolific career as a novelist whose work was often characterized as suspenseful and thrilling. Her masterpieces included While My Pretty One Sleeps and Loves Music, Loves to Dance. She earned the moniker “Queen of Suspense,” and her novels routinely landed on bestseller lists.
She continued writing late into life, publishing her most recent book, Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry, in 2019. All told, Ms. Higgins Clark wrote more than 50 novels, in addition to other short stories and her 2001 autobiography, Kitchen Privileges: A Memoir. More than a dozen of her novels were adapted into screenplays for movies and television.
Her literary success earned Ms. Higgins Clark the AIHS Gold Medal from the American Irish Historical Society, an honor bestowed upon Irish Americans for notable accomplishments. Her work also was well received in France, where in 2000 she was named a Chevalier of the Order of the Arts and Letters. She was a past president and board member of the Mystery Writers of America, which established an annual writing award in her name.
She is survived by five children, seven grandchildren, including Elizabeth Higgins Clark ’06, and two great-grandsons.
Her Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Feb. 7 in St. Gabriel’s Church, Saddle River, N.J.
