Editing Rex Stout (section)

== Later years and death ==

In later years, Stout alienated some readers{{specify|date=June 2024}} with his hawkish stance on the [[Vietnam War]] and with the contempt for [[communism]] expressed in certain of his works. The latter viewpoint is given voice in the 1952 novella "[[Home to Roost (short story)|Home to Roost]]" (first published as "Nero Wolfe and the Communist Killer") and most notably in the 1949 novel ''[[The Second Confession]]''. In this work, Archie and Wolfe express their dislike for "Commies", while at the same time Wolfe arranges for the firing of a virulently anti-Communist broadcaster, likening him to Hitler and Mussolini.

Stout continued writing until just before his death. He died on October 27, 1975, at the age of 88 at his estate, High Meadow, on the New York/Connecticut border.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://findingaids.bc.edu/repositories/2/resources/94 | title=Collection: Rex Stout papers &#124; Search Burns Archives }}</ref>