James Sallis (1944-2026) has passed away. Sallis was primarily a writer of short fiction, but he wasn’t contrained by genre. He wrote science fiction, mystery, poetry, among others.

I must confess that I am not very familiar with his work. I know I’ve got copies of his stories since he was published in Analog, Asimov’s, and F&SF. I don’t recall any stories specifically, although I’m sure I’ve read some. There aren’t many of these types of writers, those who can write across genres. Sallis’s complete short fiction was collected in 2024 in the collection Bright Segments.

Over at Black Gate, Charles Gramlich has written a very thorough and moving tribute.