Pulitzer Author Tracy Kidder Dies at 80

Tracy Kidder, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author known for his immersive narrative nonfiction that transformed everyday subjects into compelling bestsellers, died Tuesday at the age of 80. He passed away from lung cancer at his daughter's home in Boston, according to his son, Nat Kidder.

Kidder's breakthrough came with his 1981 book, "The Soul of a New Machine," which earned him the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction and the National Book Award. The work chronicled the intense efforts of engineers at a small Massachusetts computer company, Data General, as they raced to develop a new minicomputer in the late 1970s. "It was like going into another country," Kidder said in a 1981 interview with The Associated Press. "At first, I didn't understand what anybody was saying."

Throughout his career, Kidder delved deeply into unfamiliar worlds, producing richly detailed accounts that elevated ordinary lives and challenges. In "Among Schoolchildren" (1989), he spent a year observing a dedicated teacher in an inner-city fifth-grade classroom in Holyoke, Massachusetts, shedding light on the complexities of public education. His 1993 book, "Old Friends," explored aging in America through...