Tom Bezzi; Playwright and Novelist
Walter Thomas (Tom) Bezzi, a novelist and playwright whose work included the partly biographical novel “Hubble Time†about astronomer Edwin P. Hubble, has died. He was 44.
Bezzi, who frequently wrote about AIDS, died of complications of the disease in his West Hollywood home on Saturday.
“I go out fully satisfied, with no regrets,†he told friends who were with him when he died, “having felt that I achieved all in my life that I set out to achieve.â€
When the Hubble book was published in 1987, a Times reviewer lauded it for “its intense, quirky scholarship and examination of our most nagging neuroses, certainly a solid accomplishment.â€
Bezzi’s play “Dearly Beloved†was produced in the Old Globe Theatre in West Hollywood in 1988. A magazine journalist for 15 years, Bezzi also wrote several short stories and had just completed a second novel at the time of his death.
Bezzi was born in Elk City, Okla., and studied at the University of Notre Dame, the University of Kansas, San Francisco State and Fredrich Wilhelms Universitat in Bonn.
He was a founding member of Tread Lightly, a national nonprofit organization for protecting the environment, and a board member of Project Angel Food, a nonprofit group that provides free meals for homebound AIDS patients.
He is survived by his mother, Betty Thomas Howell of Wichita, Kan.; his father and stepmother, Rocky and Ruth Bezzi of Valencia; a sister, Kathy Disney, and two nephews.
A memorial service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at Pierce Bros. Mortuary, 1218 Glendon Ave., Westwood.
Bezzi had asked that memorial donations be made to Project Angel Food, 7574 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles 90046.
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