Appaloosa Plains--April 2018--Famous local author passes at age 104 days.

With great sadness, the family of Elizabeth (Maxwell) Portucci announces her passing at 104 Sims days of old age. Mrs. Portucci, who was married to her husband Frankie (who died on Easter 2018) is beloved in our town and beyond as the author of a diverse body of literary work, including the recently published Pitcher in the Wheat--A Parody.

Elizabeth was born in the United Kingdom where she was known for her compassionate nature toward animals, a thirst for reading, and her love of technology. After moving to Appaloosa Plains as a young adult to pursue a career as an author, she fell in love and married police officer, Frankie Portucci. Frankie and his brother Tony Portucci were also transplants to the town from Brooklyn, New SimsYork and both served this town as law enforcement officials for years.



Her dream of being an accomplished author was often in conflict with her duties as a wife and mother; Frankie was a traditional man and expected an attentive wife and accomplished mother for his children. When Elizabeth wasn't potty training her three children, helping with homework or advising them through adolescent heartbreak, she was trying to polish her skills as a cook and a writer. Many a delicious meal was served at her table and she enjoyed co-hosting parties with Frankie.

Elizabeth leaves several award winning and thought provoking books. She was not afraid to tackle a variety of subjects. Her first novel--A Dusty Road in Capetown--dealt with apartheid and the love between the beautiful Nicole and her long lost love, Andy. Other works include a Sci-Fi book that did modestly well, 409 Protocol, a trashy novel of love and lust in Victorian England called The Countess and the Cook, and her historical opus, Stuarts to Windsors--Randy or Right? a book she was particularly proud of. Elizabeth's biggest hit abroad was the dystopian novel Boris, Has He a Flower?, the plot set in a fictional communist block country where everything is bleak and colorless except "Boris's flower." Her daughter's former boyfriend Benji Stein, film director, was interested in making the novel into a movie, but Elizabeth sold the rights to the project to Swedish director Ingmar Svisim instead. "I like his vision," she was quoted as saying in last year's Out and About in Ap Plains magazine. "It's bleak."

Her one humorous book was the comedy hit, Mrs. Stringbean's Busy Morning. Well received by the critics as a the next big thing, fans remarked it was a pity we only had one glimpse at "Harriet Stringbean, the local busybody in Port Charlotte, British Columbia." Readers were left begging for more, but Elizabeth turned to her final project Pitcher in the Wheat--A Parody in her final days.

Elizabeth is survived by her daughter, Francesca (Portucci) Cozner and her husband, Scott Cozner, her grandson, Benjamin Cozner, her son Daniel Portucci and his wife, Denise Lavazza Portucci, and her other son, Frankie Jr. Portucci and his wife Gillian. She also leaves behind her beloved dog, Luna. In the words written by her son, Daniel on her gravestone, the story of her life is done.