August 20, 2015

Crime writer Ann Rule to be remembered in public Kane Hall gathering Aug. 23

A public celebration of the life of writer Ann Rule will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23, in Room 130 of Kane Hall on the University of Washington campus.

The gathering, under the title “Ann Rule, Our Tribute to a Life Well Lived,” will feature friends and colleagues remembering the writer’s life and work. Among these will be CBS News reporter Peter Van Sant, KOMO TV reporter Elisa Jaffe, journalist Anne Jaeger and Ben Benson, homicide detective with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office. Seating will be limited and no cameras or flash photography will be permitted.

Rule was a best-selling true crime writer whose first book, “The Stranger Beside Me” in 1980, profiled serial killer Ted Bundy, with whom she briefly worked at a Seattle suicide hotline. The book sold more than 2 million copies in the English language alone.

She was also a UW alumna who graduated in 1953 with a degree in creative writing, with minors in abnormal psychology, criminology and penology.

Though a long writing career, Rule sold about 20 million books, most about crimes committed in the Pacific Northwest. A New York Times obituary of Rule said, “In a crowded field, she consistently led the pack, taking up most of the real estate in the true-crime shelves of bookstores.”

An obituary in the Seattle Times noted that Rule also was a strong advocate for victim’s rights.

Rule died July 26 at a medical center in Burien. She was 84.