RIP Gore Vidal. You Were An Encyclopedia Of Awesome.

Gore Vidal passed away on July 31, 2012. Some fun facts: He never went to college. He was the first novelist to write about being gay in a positive light, and he came to prominence with his novel "The City and the Pillar." He wrote 25 novels in total. He loved courting controversy and had ongoing discussions with terrorist Timothy McVeigh before his execution. He was anti-war to the extreme, and in his later years said some things that offended lots of people. He was an incredibly eloquent firebrand, and I will always remember him for speaking truth to power. And this.