 Ballard never remarried; however, a few years later his friend and fellow author Michael Moorcock introduced him to Claire Walsh, who became his partner for the rest of his life (he died at her London residence), and is often referred to in his writings as "Claire Churchill".Walsh, who worked in publishing during the 1960s and 70s, was a sounding board for many of his story ideas, and introduced him to the expat community in the south of France which formed the basis of several novels.After the profound shock of his wife's death, Ballard began in 1965 to write the stories that became "The Atrocity Exhibition", while continuing to produce stories within the science fiction genre.