Here, on October 3, 1980, Mr. Vonnegut spoke to reporters as a federal court ruling called for a trial to determine if a Long Island school board can ban a number of books, including his "Slaughterhouse Five."

While serving in World War II, Mr. Vonnegut was captured by the Germans and put to work in a Dresden Factory. He survived the Allied bombing of the city only because he was working in a meat locker three stories below the ground.