Can You Separate The Author From Their Book?

There's a reason why I don't interact with many authors. (Actually, a couple, but we won't get into the other one.) The reason is that I'm terrified I'm going to find an author whose writing I love but, when I sit down and read a interview…I have problems (to put it lightly) with them. (This is also why I don't visit many author blogs and/or twitter feeds.)

Some time back I was going to read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. In preparation for that, I poked around on the internet to see what I could find out about the book. Like I usually do with old and/or well known books. Biggest mistake ever, because instead of finding anything about the book, I found an interview that Card gave. (You're happier not knowing, trust me. But if you're curious, they're not difficult to find.)

On a slightly unrelated note, I just recently heard talk about this actor that I like. I've seen him in several things and always love his characters and thought he was a really cool guy. Now I find out he is a misogynist and a racist. Truthfully, I'm not sure what to do with that. (I'm kind of thinking 'pretend I never saw it but don't support him ever again'. Hopefully I'll still be able to re-watch on of my favorite shows that he's on.)

If it's just a case of disagreeing with them, I do fine. I mean, different ideas make the world go around and all that, right? But, what happens when an author says something that you just disagree with on every level? My question is, can you still read their book? Do you avoid authors to avoid this problem?

I gotta admit, some time back I was searching around the net for something and found a Q&A type forum with my favorite author. Against my better judgment, I read it. You know, I think his answers actually made me like him more. Humor and a real down-to-earth personality came through during this. (He also totally endeared himself to me when asked how he creates such strong women and his answer was basically 'I create characters. The fact that they're women is irrelevant.') There's also another author whose blog I visited and loved before even knowing she was an author. (And I love her book, too.)

So, what do you do? Share with me. Do you avoid most authors? Can you separate authors from their books? Honestly, I don't think I can.