In 1939, Fletcher faced the fact that publishers lacked interest in his works. However, in May of 1939, Fletcher learned from an Arkansas Gazette staff member that his work Selected Poems had won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. This bolstered his spirits for the short term as he feared losing his readership.
During the 1940s, the couple enjoyed entertaining and relaxing in Johnswood. Bouts of clinical depression, however, dogged Fletcher despite Simon’s efforts to take care of him. During a particularly bad episode, Simon realized she could not continually watch over Fletcher and had him committed to a Memphis sanitarium in November 1944.
In 1945, Fletcher was released from the sanitarium and returned to Little Rock with Simon. The following year, Fletcher published the The Burning Mountain, a collection of poems that brought varied reviews. He acknowledged that he was falling into literary obscurity. He also experienced worsening arthritis and increased bouts of depression. On the morning of May 10, 1950, Fletcher dressed himself while Simon slept and walked to a pond near Johnswood, where he committed suicide by drowning. Fletcher is buried in Mount Holly Cemetery, Little Rock, near his father and mother.
On September 29, 1974, Little Rock citizens honored John Gould Fletcher with the opening of the John Gould Fletcher branch of the Little Rock Public Library, now the Central Arkansas Library System. Fletcher was the first Southerner honored with the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
