Author Kathleen Finneran, senior writer-in-residence in English in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, died peacefully in her sleep Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. She was 68.
Born in St. Louis and raised in Florissant, Finneran was the middle of five siblings in a devout Irish Catholic family. Her celebrated memoir, “The Tender Land: A Family Love Story” (2000), offers an intimate and lovingly observed portrait of suburban family life — and of the overwhelming grief that followed the suicide of her younger brother, Sean, in 1982, at age 15.
The book was long in the making. Speaking with St. Louis Public Radio in 2011, Finneran described how, as a WashU student, her essays, almost regardless of subject, all seemed to touch on Sean’s death. “It occurred to me that maybe I should write an essay that was totally centered on losing my brother,” Finneran said, “so I did.”
Finneran wrote the book’s first chapter, “The Evidence of Angels,” in 1990, during a workshop at Vermont’s Bennington College. She received her first publishing contract the following year, based on those 25 pages, but spent a decade completing the manuscript and navigating changes within the industry. “The Tender Land” ultimately was released by Houghton Mifflin, followed by a Mariner Paperbacks edition in 2003.
Meanwhile, Finneran completed her bachelor’s degree in literature and history from WashU in 2000. Over the next several years, she taught at City University of New York, the Gotham Writer’s Workshops, St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley, Webster University and the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She returned to WashU in 2005 as an instructor in the Summer Writers Institute and was appointed an adjunct lecturer in creative nonfiction in 2006. She was named writer-in-residence in 2008 and senior writer-in-residence in 2017.
According to Abram Van Engen, the Stanley Elkin Professor in the Humanities and chair of English, Finneran played a central role in establishing the department’s creative non-fiction track, virtually “out of nothing.” Other university service included directing the Nemerov Writing Scholars Program from 2013-18 and serving on numerous search and prize committees. In 2015, she received the James E. McLeod Faculty Recognition Award.
In addition to “The Tender Land,” Finneran published essays in the anthologies “The Place That Holds Our History” (1990), “Seeking St. Louis: Voices from a River City” (2000), “The ‘M’ Word: Writers on Same-Sex Marriage” (2004) and “My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read, and Shop” (2012).
Her many honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship (2003), a Whiting Award (2001) and grants and residencies from the Missouri Arts Council (1990), the MacDowell Colony (1992) and Hedgebrook (1994).
Finneran is survived by her brother Michael (the late Sauni) Finneran; by sisters Mary Ellen (Daniel) Elder and Kelly Anne (Duane) Sonntag; by nieces and nephews Sarah, Jesse, Allison, Stephanie, Nicholas and Tommy; and by five great-nieces and nephews.
A memorial visitation will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, at Hutchens Mortuary & Cremation, 675 Graham Rd., in Florissant. A service will follow at 3 p.m. To leave a remembrance, visit the Hutchens Funeral Homes website.
Memorial donations are suggested to PBS or to the Audubon Center at Riverlands in West Alton, Mo.