Sag Harbor - Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and Sag Harbor resident Lanford Wilson succumbed to complications from pneumonia, and died on Thursday, March 24, 2011, in Wayne, NJ. He was 73 years old.

Long regarded as one of America's most distinguished playwrights, Wilson was born in Lebanon, Missouri on April 13, 1937. Following his parents divorce, he relocated with his mother to Springfield, MO, and, after she remarried a farmer, to Ozark, MO. Single at the time of his death, Wilson is survived by two half-brothers, John and Jim, and a stepsister, Judy.

Wilson's works were viewed as raw and gritty, embracing his intention of having multiple conversations taking place simultaneously, allowing audiences to feel that they were privy to personal conversations overlapping. He maintained that his works were a reflection of his own life. As a gay man from a broken home growing up in Lebanon, Missouri, Wilson often pushed the accepted mainstream culture of Broadway. Thus, the dissolution of families, societies, friendships and marriages, as well as loss of life, love and sanity were all fodder for his pen.

Wilson won the 1980 Pulitzer Prize for drama for "Talley's Folly" (Broadway). A one-act, two-character comedy set in his hometown in 1944, the play chronicled the romantic fortunes of a Jewish man and a Protestant woman. "Talley's Folly" was an installment of Wilson's Talley Cycle, including "Talley & Son" (Off Broadway, 1985 and set in 1944), and "Fifth of July" (Broadway, 1980) which brought the characters to 1977, and explores a comedic disillusionment of the Vietnam era. Other Broadway plays include "Burn This" (1987), "Angels Fall" (1983) and "Redwood Curtain" (1993). Off Broadway work included "The Hot l Baltimore," which was the basis for a 1975 short lived ABC sitcom, and numerous other highly regarded plays.

Along with Wilson, Marshall Mason, Tanya Berezin and Rob Thirkield founded the Circle Repertory Company in 1969. A collective of actors, directors, and playwrights known for its collaborative approach, the company produced works by Wilson, Jules Feiffer, Sam Shepard, Larry Kramer, and others, as well as the acting careers of Academy Award winning actors William Hurt, and Kathy Bates, and was dissolved in 1996.

A familiar face on Main Street in Sag Harbor, Wilson was always charming but reflected the intensity which he brought to his work. An avid collector of Folk Art and Outsider Art, Wilson's home is surrounded by his beautiful garden. He will be missed not only by the theater world, but also by a community that mourns his passing.

Wilson had a wonderful history with Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor. As part of the 2010 Mainstage Season, Bay Street presented the last in his Talley trilogy, "Fifth of July," which the playwright attended on opening night. Last October, Bay Street staged a workshop performance of "Raindogs," a new musical based on Wilson's "Balm in Gilead."

"The loss of Lanford Wilson will be felt very deeply not only at Bay Street Theatre, but also in our community in Sag Harbor," said Sybil Christopher, Artistic Director at Bay Street Theatre.

"Lanford was a wonderful fixture here in town and we were fortunate and privileged to have been able to collaborate with him over the past 20 years," said Murphy Davis, Artistic Director at Bay Street Theatre. "We will miss him greatly but his work and his art will always be an inspiration to all of us here at Bay Street."

A service will be held on Monday, March 28, at 2 p.m. at the First Presbyterian (Old Whalers') Church at 44 Union Street in Sag Harbor.