(Name) Iain Banks, prolific and beloved novelist, died on Tuesday, June 9, 2013 at the age of 59. Born in Dunfermline, Scotland in 1954, Iain Banks was well known for his fiction works including The Crow Road, Whit, Complicity, and The Wasp Factory. His works received numerous literary awards, including the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for The Crow Road and The Whitbread Novel of the Year for The Wasp Factory. With Banks’ novel The Crow Road inspiring the BBC television series of the same name and his other works being translated into films and adapted for stage, his work reached millions of readers. Banks was also a keen environmental and political activist who even ran for parliament for the Scottish National Party. The sad passing of Iain Banks marks the loss of an accomplished writer with an impressive career. He will forever be remembered for his creative works and his ability to touch the hearts of those who read his works.