Edmund White, a pioneer of contemporary gay literature, died this week at age 85. He left behind such widely read works as “A Boy’s Own Story” and “The Beautiful Room Is Empty” and a priceless gift to countless younger writers.

He mined his own varied catalog of sexual experiences in more than 30 books of fiction and explicitly candid memoirs.

Many of White's books chronicled his own experiences as a gay man, making an indelible impression on gay culture and how LGBTQ experiences were understood more broadly at the dawning of the AIDS health crisis.