Vreeland, novelist with a passion for art, dies

Susan Vreeland, who drew on her love of art to fashion wellregarded novels about paintings and those who paint or own them, died on Aug. 23 in San Diego. She was 71.

The cause was complications of heart surgery, her longtime agent, Barbara Braun, said.

Among Vreeland’s bestknown books is her second novel, “Girl in Hyacinth Blue” (1999), about a fictional painting that may be a lost Vermeer. It traces the painting’s various owners through history, illuminating them, their times and the artwork. She wrote the book while being treated for lymphoma.

“I remember the first time, after a bone-marrow transplant and the 100 days of solitude and confinement that followed, the world was glorious,” she once told an interviewer. “Every little blade of grass was sticking up and doing its part to make the world glorious, every breeze was a blessing.”

rescued with the help of state police troopers who shut down traffic for it.

Police said Sunday on Facebook the kitten decided to “play a little hide and seek” in the Ted Williams Tunnel in Boston.

Sgt. Bob Dateo shut traffic down. The Animal Rescue League of Boston quickly rescued the kitten.

A trooper posted a photo of the wayward kitten on social media. A video taken by police shows the kitten walking along the side of the road as cars drive by.