Cliff Becker, 40, Chief of Literature for National Arts Endowment

Cliff Becker, 40, director of literature at the National Endowment for the Arts, died Tuesday at his home in Riverdale, Md., of a heart attack, NEA Chairman Dana Gioia announced.

“Cliff was an important part of the fabric and personality of the arts endowment,” Gioia said. “He was widely respected in the field for his regard not only for the written word, but also for those who write and those who read.”

Becker joined the NEA in 1992 as a program specialist in the literature department and was named director of literature in 1999.

He supervised the endowment’s grants to literary organizations, writers and translators.

Most recently, he helped develop and launch the NEA’s National Poetry Recitation Contest.

When he was named director of literature, Becker said he believed that the novels, stories and poems produced by U.S. writers “tell the world what it is like to be American.”

“My challenge is to ensure that more of our citizens have access to their contemporary literary heritage,” he said.

Gioia said Wednesday: “Cliff Becker met that challenge and exceeded it.”

A native of Downey, Becker earned his bachelor’s degree from Cal State Long Beach. His master’s was from the University of Maryland, where he taught contemporary literature and writing for three years.

He is survived by his wife, Leila; daughter, Sahara; mother, Kathleen Becker, and brother, Ronald Becker, both of Downey; and sister, Janet Trippel, of Los Angeles.

A funeral service will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in College Park, Md.