Cai Emmons

Cai Emmons (1951 – 2023) was an award-winning American author. Emmons died on January 2, 2023, at the age of 71 years old. The cause of death was ruled ALS.^[1][2][3]

Caroline “Cai” Eddy Emmons
Born	January 15, 1951
Died	January 2, 2023
Occupation	novelist, dramatist/playwright, screenwriter, teacher
Education	Yale University, BA New York University Tisch School of the Arts, MFA film (Thesis film won Student Academy Award) University of Oregon, MFA fiction
Spouse	married
Children	1
Website
caiemmonsauthor.com

Books

• His Mother’s Son^[4] (Harcourt, 2003) Oregon Book Award: Ken Kesey Award for the Novel, Booksense and Literary Guild selection
• The Stylist^[5] (HarperCollins, 2007)
• Weather Woman^[6] (Red Hen Press, 2018) Nautilus Book Award, shortlisted for the Eric Hoffer Grand Prize
• Vanishing: Five Stories^[7] (Leapfrog Press, 2020) Winner of the 2019 Leapfrog Global Fiction Prize
• Sinking Islands^[8] (Red Hen Press, 2021) May Sarton Award, Montaigne Award Finalist, [sequel to Weather Woman]
• Unleashed^[9] (Dutton, 2022)
• Livid (Red Hen Press, 2022) 

Plays

“Mergatroid” and “When Petulia Comes,” teleplays for the CBS series The Trials of Rosie O’Neill.

Personal life

In 2021, Emmons received a diagnosis that explained troubling physical symptoms she had been experiencing: Bulbar-onset ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease). Bulbar ALS, a neuromuscular disease, first attacks muscles of the head and neck, including vocal cords.^[10]

She continued to write, sending her final manuscript for a novel to the publisher just before her death. It is scheduled for release in October 2025.^[11]

When her condition deteriorated significantly, she determined to pursue the option allowed under Oregon law known as Death with Dignity.

Legacy

Cai Emmons Fiction Award, Red Hen Press. To honor the life and legacy of novelist Cai Emmons

Vanishing: A Love Story, Award-winning documentary feature-length film, Ojeda Films, 2025. Sandra Luckow, Director; Sandra Luckow, Kat Vecchio, Producers; Sheila Nevins and Paul Calandrino, Executive Producers; Quentin Chiappetta, Composer.