Erica Kennedy Johnson News

Erica Kennedy | Author of 'Bling,' 42

Erica Kennedy, 42, a music writer turned novelist who came to wide attention in 2004 with the publication of her first novel, Bling, a satirical roman a clef about the world of hip-hop, was found dead last week at her home in Miami Beach.

Her family confirmed the death to the Associated Press but provided neither the cause nor the precise date Ms. Kennedy died.

A gifted singer, she is remade in flashy style by a rapacious record mogul. Ms. Kennedy was reported to have received an advance of half a million dollars for the novel.

By all accounts, the flash Ms. Kennedy portrayed in her fiction had little place in her own life. - N.Y. Times News Service

Writer Erica Kennedy found dead in home.

Erica Kennedy Johnson

Writer Erica Kennedy has been found dead in her Miami Beach apartment. Police confirmed Monday that Kennedy, whose full name was Erica Kennedy Johnson, was found dead last week. Robinson, who is Kennedy's aunt, said, "We are devastated by this loss. Kennedy's follow-up novel, "Feminista," was released in 2009.

The graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and Oxford University, Kennedy worked most recently as a creative consultant for fashion and lifestyle brands and was known for her lively tweets.

Erica Kennedy, a Music Writer Who Satirized the Hip-Hop World, Dies at 42

Erica Kennedy, a music writer turned novelist who came to wide attention in 2004 with the publication of her first novel, “Bling,” a satirical roman à clef about the world of hip-hop, was found dead last week at her home in Miami Beach.  Published by Miramax Books, “Bling” tells the story of a young, innocent mixed-race woman trying to break into the music business. “Everybody kept talking about how scandalous that book was,” Ms. Kennedy told The New York Times in 2004. Reviewing “Bling” in The Times Book Review, Sia Michel took it to task for bagginess (it ran to 509 pages) but called it “gleefully trashy.”

“Bling” captured the attention of the news media, partly for its portrayal of a world of flowing Cristal, powder blue Bentleys and platinum teeth, and partly for the fevered guessing game it engendered: Was its hip-hop mogul based on Russell Simmons, a founder of Def Jam Recordings and a friend of Ms. Kennedy’s? Ms. Kennedy’s second novel, “Feminista,” was published by St. Martin’s Press in 2009. That book, a reworking of Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew,” did not garner the immense attention of “Bling.”

At the end of 2010, Ms. Kennedy was named to the Ebony Power 100, a list of influential African-Americans.

Ms. Kennedy was born Erica Kennedy Johnson on March 24, 1970, and reared in Bayside, Queens. (In 1998, Ms. Kennedy was a bridesmaid at Mr. Simmons’s wedding to Kimora Lee.)

After receiving a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Sarah Lawrence College in 1992, Ms. Kennedy was a publicist for the Tommy Hilfiger fashion house and contributed articles on music to Vibe, InStyle and other magazines.

Ms. Kennedy’s survivors include her mother, Mary Mobley Johnson, and a brother, Kirk Johnson.