Annie Dillard, whose 1974 book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek became one of the most widely loved works of American nonfiction, died at 81, The New York Times reports.

Dillard, a Pittsburgh native, was educated at Hollins College in Virginia, where she wrote her master’s thesis on Henry David Thoreau and his beloved Walden Pond.

She made her literary debut in 1974 with a pair of books: the poetry collection Tickets for a Prayer Wheel and Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. The latter book, a reflection on nature and theology inspired by Thoreau, became a bestseller and won the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction. A critic for Kirkus wrote of the book, “Ms. Dillard has a great deal going for her—in spite of some repetition of words and concepts, her prose is bright, fresh and occasionally emulates (not imitates) the Walden Master in a contemporary context.”

She went on to write several more books, including the nonfiction works Holy the Firm, Living by Fiction, Teaching a Stone To Talk, An American Childhood, The Writing Life, For the Time Being, and The Abundance, as well as the novels The Living and The Maytrees.

Dillard’s admirers paid tribute to her on social media. On the platform X, novelist Margaret Atwood posted, “So sorry to hear this. She was a luminous, unique person.”   

And author Courtney Ellis wrote, “Annie Dillard and Wendell Berry are both on my Mount Rushmore of nonfiction authors. Hard to lose them both so close together.”

Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.