Grace Paley

Grace Paley, an iconic and idiosyncratic American literary voice, died Wednesday. She was 84, and had battled breast cancer. Paley wrote short stories and poems, and much of her writing was inspired by the people she knew growing up in New York, the daughter of Russian Jews. Her first collection of stories, The Little Disturbances of Man: Stories of Men and Women at Love, was published in 1959. Her other collections included Enormous Changes at the Last Minute and Later in the Same Day.

Grace Paley was New Yorks's first official woman state writer. Known for writing about neighborhoods including the Bronx and Greenwich Village, Paley now lives in Vermont. Paley is known for her collections of short stories, but is also a poet. Her new book is "New and Collected Poems."

Writer Grace Paley is a master of the short story form. Paley's work is interested in the stories of women, and Paley has been involved in the peace and feminist movements. Paley's latest collection is "Later the Same Day."