 Williams retired from the University of Denver in 1985 and died of respiratory failure in 1994 at home in Fayetteville, Arkansas.He is survived by his wife and descendants.A fifth novel, "The Sleep of Reason", was unfinished at the time of his death, but two lengthy excerpts were published in "Ploughshares" and the "Denver Quarterly" in 1981 and 1986, respectively.